New Fear
by TeddyBear98
Summary: Jack finds an interesting surprise at his lake: a 5 year old immortal girl that shares his talent in frost and Winter. Jack decides to keep her a secret from the Guardians for now, but can he keep a secret like that for long? Plus, with the girl comes a new fear for Jack: her getting hurt. This fear regenerates Pitch who has sworn revenge on Jack... *Cover art by Von Cathy!* ;p
1. Kaylee

**Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a Rise of the Guardians fic, so I hope everyone enjoys it! Here is the first chapter! Please review! **

"Jack, ya bloody snowflake! Where'd you go!?" an angered Bunnymund yells, dashing around Santoff Clausen trying to find the mischievous Winter Spirit who had apparently decided it would be funny to freeze an elf to the Easter Bunny's back. Unknown to Bunny, Jack was currently floating in a corner of the ceiling high above him, laughing silently as Bunny desperately tried to get the elf unstuck from him while looking for Jack at the same time.

After Bunny disappeared from Jack's view, Tooth silently fluttered up to the still laughing Guardian, surprising him with a tap on the shoulder. Wielding his staff, ready to face the enemy, Jack relaxes after seeing it was only the Tooth Fairy. Smiling slightly herself, she says, "I suggest you get out of here until he cools down a little; I've known Bunny longer than you have, and trust me, if he finds you, it won't be a good thing. We wouldn't want him to destroy the place chasing you, now would we?"

Laughing, Jack responds, "Yeah, you're probably right; I'll be in Burgess if anyone needs me," Jack says, still snickering slightly to himself. With that said, he opens the nearest window and flies through it, quickly making his way to the little town of Burgess.

* * *

Jack made it to Burgess in pretty good timing, an hour to be exact which is great considering he had been at the North Pole and it would have taken forever had he not been immortal and able to fly. He made a point to stop by Jamie's school and quickly peek into the window, spotting the boy focused on writing something on a sheet of paper. Smiling, he turned and flew away from the window and over to his lake, deciding to wait there until Jamie and his sister were out of school and he could have some fun in the snow with them. Upon landing in the middle of his lake, he skated around for a bit, generally having fun, but something felt off to him, and he finally realized what it was; he felt like he was being watched.

Tightening his grip on the staff that he's had ever since he had become Jack Frost, he slowly turns around in circles, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"I know someone's there! Come out and face me!" Jack yells, still scanning the area carefully when no one materializes. He swears he sees something move very slightly behind a snow bank off to his right, and without much thought, he sends a blast of frost over there, making contact with something. There is a thump and girly squeal as the person or thing falls backwards from it's original standing position.

Shocked, Jack rushes over, since the thing he had hit sounded like a child. Cautiously peering over the snow bank, his eyes widen a little bit when he sees a small girl who can't be more than 5 or 6 years old lying on her back in the snow looking up at him. There was something different about her, though: this girl had the same color white hair and blue eyes as Jack. She wore a strapless pale blue dress that went up to her knees, dark blue leggings a little darker than the color of Jack's hoodie, wearing a crystal around her neck on a chain of ice, and she was barefoot.

At a loss for what to do for the moment, Jack stares down at the child, and she stares back at him. All of a sudden, the little girl starts to cry, and that is what snaps Jack into action. He leaps over the snow bank and kneels down next to the child and sits her up. "Hey, little girl, don't cry; I'm sorry!" he says, desperately trying to make things right. "Are you hurt?"

Her tears slow just a little, enough for her to answer, and she sniffles out, "No, b-but why did you d-do that?"

"Hey, I thought you might be, um –" he pauses for a second; would this she know who Pitch Black was and understand that he had shot frost at her to be precautious? He sighed; no, she probably wouldn't.

"I didn't know what you were; you startled me," he settles on saying, still observing the crying kid with curiosity and confusion. She wasn't immortal, was she? She couldn't be, right? She was so young, but yet she looked so much like . . . well, like himself: like a Winter Spirit. He so badly just wanted to come out and ask her what she was, but he knew that just asking a little girl "What are you?" probably wasn't the best idea if he wanted to make her stop crying and make her trust him.

"Hey, come on, don't cry. I'm really a nice guy," Jack says with a smile, tickling the little girl gently on her stomach; she laughed, and he also noticed in the process that this child was cold, around the same temperature as him, and she didn't seem to mind in the least. Despite the oddity of the entire situation, Jack found himself smiling and laughing along with her as he continued to tickle her.

Finally stopping when all of her tears were dried up, Jack gave the child his hand and helped her up off of the ground. "So, how old are you, sweetie? What's your name?" he asks her, his curiosity toward her coming back.

She looks down at the ground, appearing shy for the first time, and says very quietly, "I'm five, and my name is Kaylee."

"Well, Kaylee, I think that's a very pretty name. I'm Jack; Jack Frost, to be exact," Jack says proudly. Kaylee looks back up at Jack, her eyes lighting up with wonder and excitement, and the smile appears right back on her face.

"Really!?" she asks happily. "You're who I came to find, Jack!"

She happily hugs Jack's leg, and he pats her back in a loving, comforting way, but he felt so confused. What was up with this girl, where had she come from, and could she really be an immortal Winter Spirit if she was only 5 years old? Jack had never considered the possibility of such a young child being a spirit, since he had never heard of such a thing ever happening. Yet, at the same time, he felt like he was already bonded to the adorable little girl. Had she really been meant to find him like she said?

**Author's Note: Who is this little girl? Why was she looking for Jack? Can someone so young really be immortal? Anyways, how was that for the first chapter? Did you guys love it or hate it? Please review and let me know! Constructive criticism will be okay, but please no flames! After all, Jack is a Winter Spirit and we wouldn't want our favorite Guardian to die now would we!?**


	2. The Blue Light

**Author's Note: Well, I didn't get as many reviews as I was hoping to be honest but thank you to everyone who checked this out and favorited and followed it, and a very special thanks to those who reviewed. Can I possibly get more people to review this time? I would really appreciate it! Thanks and enjoy chapter 2 of New Fear!**

"So, the Man in the Moon told you to find me but you don't remember why?" Jack asks the exuberant little girl who has been sitting next to him behind the snow bank since yesterday; neither of them had gotten any rest as they had been talking all night and now into the morning as well. Kaylee nods, and says, "Can we do something!?"

Jack sighs, slightly frustrated, and thinks a little more on this: if the Man in the Moon had sent her to him, than she was important, but apparently little kids aren't very good at remembering important information, immortal or not (as he had for certain determined, no matter how strange, that the little girl was immortal and a Winter Spirit as well). Sighing again, Jack closes his eyes briefly; this might be more complicated than he originally thought.

* * *

It was the day after Jack had gone to Burgess, and Tooth was a little surprised that he hadn't come back yet. Normally he would return to the North Pole every night to spend it with North and Bunny, but according to North he had never showed up. She had considered going to check up on him, but she was tired after a long night collecting teeth and had decided on going back to the Tooth Palace for some rest. Now, however, it was morning and she was on her way back to Santoff Clausen to see if he had made his way back yet.

When she got there, a window was open like normal to allow her and Jack to fly in whenever they needed too, so she entered North's fortress to find North, Sandy, and Bunny all standing around the globe; Jack wasn't in sight. Why hadn't he come back yet? Was he worried about Bunny pummeling him? No, he couldn't be; the Winter Spirit had never been afraid of facing Bunny after a prank before, so why would he start now? Pushing the thought out of her head for the moment, Tooth flutters over to the globe and hovers next to Sandy.

"Hey, what are you all looking at?" she asks, startling the male Guardians; they hadn't noticed her come in.

"It's one of the lights," Bunny answers when no one else does. Tooth pondered this for a moment; had a light gone out? Had a child stopped believing? When no further explanation is offered to her, Tooth voices her questions aloud.

"No lights have gone out, Tooth; one of them turned blue, though. I've never seen anything like this happen before," North answers, appearing amazed with a hint of worry; after all, no one knew what it meant and if it was good or bad.

It is then that Tooth makes a discovery looking at the little light. "Wait, it looks like it's in Burgess," she points out.

"You're right," North agrees. "It is in Burgess." It is then that Tooth remembers that Jack is in Burgess; what if the light meant trouble and something bad had happened to Jack? Is that why he had never made a reappearance?

"Guys, Jack's in Burgess! What if he's in trouble!?" she bursts out, concerned for the young Guardian.

"Wait, Jack is in Burgess?! Tooth, you told me that no one knew where he went!" Bunny says angrily.

"Well, duh! I couldn't have you chasing him through the entire place and messing things up when Christmas is only a month away! I told him that he should go before that happened, and he said he was going to Burgess," Tooth explains.

"Everyone in the sleigh," North interrupts, cutting off the retort Bunny was about to make to Tooth. "We need to go check out what is happening and make sure Jack is okay."

"Wait, maybe only one of us should go; what if it's a trap or something?" Bunny points out. Sandy makes a sand image of a thumbs-up sign to show that he agreed; maybe all of them shouldn't be jumping into something with no idea of what they were getting in to.

"I'll go," Tooth says, concern radiating through her. "If I'm not back by tonight to collect teeth, than it was a trap," she says bravely, and before North could protest, she grabbed one of the magic snow globes, threw it at the wall, and entered the portal into Burgess. Upon arriving, she decided to go to Jamie's house first; it was Saturday, and if Jack wasn't in trouble she was almost positive that he would be there.

Fluttering up to the window, she peeks in and sees Jamie on his bed reading a book, not looking very happy about it; it was obvious he would rather be doing something else. She taps on the window gently, and he looks up with a hopeful expression on his face. It goes away when he sees that it's Tooth and not Jack, but he is still happy to see her and smiles, walking over to the window and letting her in.

"Hi, Tooth!" the boy says excitedly. "Did you bring Jack with you? I didn't want to play in the snow without him, but I'm so bored! Is he coming today? He said he would be here this weekend, and I thought he would come yesterday but he never showed up."

Frowning now that she knows Jack isn't here, she answers, "No, Jamie; I'm actually here looking for him."

Jamie's face falls, and he looks as worried as Tooth. "Is he okay? Did something happen?"

"Oh, don't worry too much; we just haven't seen him since yesterday and he said he was coming here, so I came to look for him. I'm sure he's fine, and when I find him, I'll send him here as soon as I talk to him about something, okay?" Jamie nods, and Tooth flies out of the window, heading to the one other place she hopes Jack might be: his lake.

As she approaches the area, she hears laughing, and she automatically recognizes it as Jack's laugh. She smiles, and picks up her speed, and even more so when she swears she hears a little girl's laugh; what was Jack Frost up to?

"Jack?" she calls out, not seeing him at first glance. Jack hears Tooth call him, and for some reason feels the need to hide Kaylee; how would the Guardians react to her? He didn't want them to throw question after question at the little Winter Spirit, as he was now certain that she was one when he saw frost appear on a tree she touched.

"Jack?!" the Tooth Fairy calls out again when he still doesn't come out. Putting a finger to his lips to signal that Kaylee should be quiet, he floats out from behind the snow bank. Tooth spots Jack and attempts to fly over to him, but he gets to her quicker, not wanting Tooth to see the little frost girl hidden behind the cover of the snow bank. "Oh, thank Manny you're here! I was starting to worry a little, Jack! Jamie has been waiting for you to play with him, you know! What have you been up to?" she asks.

She notices the guilty look on Jack's face; he had completely forgotten about Jamie and Sophie. "Um, nothing," he says.

"Well, we wanted to check on you; there's a blue light on the globe coming from Burgess and we're not sure what it is and-"

She is cut off when a little girl's voice says, "Jack, can I come out!? I'm bored!"

Jack face-palms, and Tooth looks around, confused. "Jack, who's here with you? Is it a new believer!?" she demands excitedly.

"Uh, you could say that; she's shy, though! You can't meet her right now . . . um, how about you go back and tell Jamie I'll be there soon, and North that I have no idea what the light is and we should just forget it for now, okay?" Jack tells her, although Tooth has gotten to know him well enough in the few months after Pitch's defeat so that she knew he was lying to her; did he have something to do with the blue light? Although she felt a little hurt that he wouldn't open up to her about it, and she desperately wanted to know what could be so big that the Winter Spirit would hide it from her, she decided to give him his privacy for now. However, she did vow that if he started acting too strange she would investigate further into this.

And trust me: Tooth did start to notice strange things happening with him.

**Author's Note: Please review! I would love it! I really want to know people****'s opinion on this story! Be critical if you wish, but please no hate!  
**


	3. Northern Lights

**Author's Note: Here is the third chapter of New Fear! I hope everyone enjoys it! Please review! Thanks! Pitch will be in the next chapter, too finally!  
**

**IMPORTANT: To the guest that kept using different names to send me hate reviews: they have all been deleted and I will not be offended by them. If you continue to post them, they will continue to be deleted and ignored, and I'm not going to stop updating! Now, to those who send me lovely reviews and like the story: read on!**

It was the day after Tooth had found Jack at his lake, and today was decided that there would be a meeting about the strange blue light on the globe. Tooth still suspected that Jack maybe had something to do with it, considering she in no way believed him when he had told her the little girl's voice she had heard was just a shy believer. She was the one who had asked if it was a believer, but when he answered, it was an obvious lie, but was that incident and the light in any way be connected? She figured that if he was keeping something from them, there was a good reason too, and had vowed to investigate soon if she noticed more odd behavior from him.

Jack, however, had a dilemma: he was not very willing to fly all the way to the North Pole and leave Kaylee behind for the meeting, which he knew about as soon as one of Tooth's mini fairies had come this morning and told him about it. It was a miracle he had managed to hide the little girl before Tooth's little helper saw her, since he was still against telling the Guardians about her.

On top of not wanting to leave, he wasn't sure if he could make it there: he was pretty tired. He hadn't slept for two days now. Normally he could last a few days without resting, with being immortal and all, but he had been desperately trying to get the little frost girl to remember why the Man in the Moon had sent her to find him, which was very hard when all she wanted to do was play. He spent a large majority of his time chasing her around and trying to keep her still, and it was starting to take a toll on the Guardian of Fun.

He groaned in frustration when he saw the Northern lights signal fanning out across the sky, meaning that he was supposed to be making his way to the North Pole right now. What was he supposed to do? He had tried to catch the little girl, and then think of something, but even that wasn't working; he had stopped attempting that when he made grab for her and she had swerved away at the last moment, sending him crashing into a tree and giving him a nice bluish-purple bruise on his shoulder and also a smaller one on his forehead near his right temple. Was there any way to get this child to calm down so that he could think?!

"Ooohhh! Pretty!" Kaylee shrieks suddenly, floating up in the air a little bit and staring at the signal in awe. This surprises Jack a little bit, as it is the first time that he has ever seen the little girl fly, but he quickly gets over it when he realizes that if she was a Winter Spirit, of course she would be able to fly like him. He wondered if she knew how to use her other powers? She was so young, so he assumed the answer was no; he would have to show her after the meeting, if he could ever get there. The signal had been going off for about 10 minutes now, and Jack knew that if he didn't leave soon, he'd be even later than he already was going to be. Coming up with a fast idea after seeing a knothole at the bottom of a tree, he quickly flew up to the little girl and said, "Kaylee, I have to go somewhere, but how about we play a game? You see that knothole in the bottom of the tree over there?"

The little girl looks to where Jack is pointing and nods her head, excitement bubbling up inside her at the anticipation of what the game would be. "Well, we're going to play a type of hide and seek; you go hide in there, and the goal is to stay hidden there until I get back. If you do, you win and I'll give you a prize! How does that sound?!"

Her eyes light up with happiness, and she bobs her head 'yes,' quickly flying into the little space. Satisfied, Jack covers the hole with a layer of ice, reassuring Kaylee that it is part of the game, and flies off as fast as he can, hoping that she will still be in there, unharmed, when he returned.

* * *

"Frostbite's half an hour late," Bunny says, pointing out the obvious fact with clear annoyance. "Why can't he be responsible for just once in his life!? As soon as the words lave his mouth, Jack flies in not nearly as fast as he normally would, looking pretty tired, and the older Guardians also noticed a bruise on his forehead. Bunny's anger at the younger spirit was forgotten while he stared at him, watching him slump down on the nearest couch, looking like his mind was elsewhere.

"Oi, Frostbite; what happened to you?" he asks, the slightest twinge of worry showing in his voice.

"Yeah," Tooth agrees, fluttering over to sit down next to Jack. "Are you okay?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, he replies, "I'm fine! Don't worry about me; let's get on with the meeting," he says, trying to sound perkier and more awake than he actually was at the moment.

"Well, what happened to your head?" North asks, referring to the medium-sized bruise.

"I hit it on a tree," he responds, and leaves it at that. The Guardians realize that he obviously doesn't want to elaborate on whatever happened, and don't push him anymore; however, they do remain suspicious of the boy, watching him as they start the meeting and picking up on slight strange things in his behavior, like how antsy he appeared to grow with each minute, glancing at the window occasionally as if considering flying out of it. As the meeting progresses, they try to focus on their priority instead of Jack's odd actions, but their thoughts soon wander to him again.

North had just finished explaining about how he had discovered the light and what his thoughts on it were, and turns to Jack to hear his opinion. The other Guardians follow his gaze and see his head lolled down to his chest. His breathing is even, and they realize simultaneously that he is asleep, unusual considering he was always full of energy when they got together, interjecting his own ideas on whatever topic they were discussing.

"Jack, wake up," Tooth says, shaking his shoulder gently. His head snaps up, and his cheeks blush the slightest light blue color when he realizes that North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy are al staring at him with concern and curiosity in their eyes. In an attempt to avoid their questioning gazes, he glances out of the window and notices the sun going down. His eyes suddenly widen, realizing that he had left Kaylee alone for a few hours now. Concerned, he shoots up into the air like a rocket, grabs a cookie from the platter on the table to bring back to her as the prize, and speeds out of the window, muttering a lame excuse about needing to make it snow in Burgess.

The Guardians stare after him, momentarily shocked; Tooth is the first to recover. "I got it," she says, flying after him at top speed; now was the time for her to investigate, because something was definitely going on with him. To Tooth's surprise, Jack hasn't gotten too far ahead of her, and she manages to catch up, tailing behind him without the boy ever realizing. An hour or so later, it is dark, and she follows Jack silently as he lands at his lake in Burgess, making his way over to a tree with a knothole in the bottom that has been iced over. With a wave of his staff, he removes the ice from it and gets down on his knees, poking his head in. Tooth watches him with curiosity, wondering what he could possibly be doing.

"Hey, Kaylee, wake up! I have your prize," she hears his muffled voice say inside the tree.

There is the sound of a yawn, and then a little girl's voice, the same one that Tooth had heard yesterday, speaks up: "Jack, you were gone for a long time."

"I know, I know; I'm sorry. I got you a cookie for winning the game, though."

"Yay!" she squeals happily, and after that Jack sticks his arms into the hole, and when he stands up he is holding a little girl with white hair and blue eyes.

Tooth gasps; she looked like a spirit! Jack turns around fast, releasing the girl with one of his hands but clutching onto her tightly with the other, his left hand wielding his staff protectively. When he spots Tooth, his eyes widen, and he quickly floats over to her.

"Tooth, you can't tell anyone," Jack says hurriedly, looking a little panicked that someone had found out about the girl he had been desperately trying to keep a secret. Jack never panicked, so Tooth knew how serious he was about this. She is about to question him when the little girl wriggles out of Jack's grasp and floats over to Tooth, gasping in excitement at her. "You're the Tooth Fairy!" she says excitedly, smiling widely at her.

Tooth blushes a little, and, obviously enjoying the attention, says, "Yes, yes I am! And who might you be little one?"

"Kaylee Frost!" she says, smiling at Jack proudly when she remembers that is his last name and decides to use it. Jack smiles back at her and ruffles her hair.

Tooth raises an eyebrow at Jack, and he just shrugs his shoulders, but she isn't letting him off the hook that easily, and Jack knows it too.

**Author's Note: Okay, not the best way to end the chapter but it was getting long and I needed to end it somewhere. Next chapter should be up tomorrow, along with the next chapter for We Are Family for those who read that (it's not ROTG). Anyways, review please! Pitch will be in the next chapter!  
**


	4. The Crystal

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 4! I will include a little bit of Pitch in this chapter, since he is going to be a pretty good part of this story, which you all know since you read the summary! Okay, enough of me babbling! Enjoy and review please!**

It was an hour after Tooth had followed Jack back to Burgess. Kaylee was asleep on Jack's lap, snuggling into his chest, which Tooth thought was adorable. Jack had just finished explaining about the girl (after the Tooth Fairy had sworn that she wouldn't tell the others yet), and Tooth looked lost in thought, trying to figure out why the Man in the Moon would have sent the little girl to Jack; what was the reason behind it?

"I have no clue," she finally concludes. "You still have no idea, Jack?" The boy doesn't answer her. "Jack?" she tries again, turning her head to look at him. She smiles, seeing that the younger spirit had fallen asleep. Being careful not to wake him and Kaylee, she moves Jack so that he is propped up against a tree with his staff on the ground right next to him, the little girl still in his lap.

"Goodnight, Jack," she says, flying off. Whatever the reason was that caused Manny to send the girl to Jack, she could see it was a good idea, as Jack had obviously already developed a brotherly-type bond to the adorable child, and wanted nothing to happen to her; she had seen the brief fear in his eyes when he realized that she had discovered Kaylee. He figured that the less people that knew about her, the better until he could figure out more about her. At least the blue light on the globe made sense to Tooth now; Kaylee was a child and therefore a believer, but since she was a spirit, her light had turned blue, which meant she had just recently become one.

She sighs; this was kind of complicated, and she couldn't think about it right now; she had already left her mini fairies alone to deal with the teeth collecting for a few hours, and they had to be getting worried about her . . .

* * *

Jack wakes up to sunlight streaming into his face. He shifts positions slightly, causing the girl in his lap to stir. As soon as her eyes open, all of the energy that children always have comes back to her, and she flies up slightly, shaking Jack to make sure he got up.

"Jack! Jack! Wake up! I wanna do something!" Groaning, he stands up and rubs his eyes. Tooth had apparently left during the night, leaving him to deal with the over-excited child by himself.

"Alright, alright. How about I teach you how to make some cool things using your powers? I bet you don't know how to form a perfect snowball!" he says with a grin.

Several face-fulls of snow and a few hours later, Jack had finally managed to get his little student to master the snowball-making technique, as well as helping her have a little more control over her frost.

"Great job, Kaylee!" he says with a smile. The little girl squeals in delight at the compliment, zipping over to Jack and giving him a hug. It makes him feel good inside. As she pulls away, giggling, something falls from her, plopping into the snow. Bending over and picking it up, he sees it is a crystal necklace, the chain made of ice. How had that fallen off of her neck?

Standing up straight, he goes to put it back around her neck when he sees that she is still wearing hers; this was just an identical one, and he stares at it, confused. Kaylee's eyes light up in excitement, however, and she squeals.

"Jack, the Man in the Moon told me to give you that! I remember now! Yay!" She claps her hands and spins around in the air, landing a few seconds later when it made her dizzy.

Jack is still confused; the Man in the Moon sent this girl to him so that they could have matching necklaces? There had to be something special about it. Hesitantly, Jack puts it around his neck and waits . . . and waits . . . nothing appears to be happening, and he shrugs it off for now, assuming that if it was really important he would figure out what it was for eventually. Sighing, he goes to float over to Kaylee, who had wandered off and was playing in a snow bank when his vision goes funny. _He sees a young girl blonde-haired girl with brown eyes with a middle-aged woman in a kitchen, playing a board game. The girl laughs, and he immediately recognizes it, and suddenly he knows who the girl is; it's Kaylee, as a human . . ._

"Jack! Jack! Are you okay!? JACK!" He snaps out of whatever the little vision is when he hears someone calling his name. He opens his eyes and focuses to see that he is on the ground, and Kaylee is hovering over him looking scared with tears in her eyes. When she sees him open his, though, the fear slides away, replaced by happiness, and she allows a small smile onto he face. She leans down and hugs him.

"You fell from the air onto the ground! I though you were dead! I was scared, Jack!"

He pats her back soothingly; he didn't mean to scare her. He would be scared for her if what she had just described happened to her while he watched, but he would be scared if anything were to happen to her; he had learned to love the little girl. He couldn't control what had just happened, though, but he knew the crystal had somehow just shown him one of Kaylee's memories. He would have to talk to Tooth about this; she had more experience with memories . . .

* * *

Undetected in Pitch's old lair, where he had been banished just months before after his defeat, dormant shadows begin to move once again, forming fearlings, and seconds later, Pitch himself forms out of the shadows, solid again after months of being trapped in his own shadows, unable to do anything. He blinks his eyes, and an evil smile forms on his lips. He knew what had brought him back: it was fear. It wasn't just any fear, however, it was the slight but growing fear of Jack Frost. It was fear for the little girl, fear of something happening to her, not very strong at the moment since there was nothing there to threaten her; Pitch could change all of that. In fact, he would change all of that, as soon as he was strong enough. As soon as he was strong enough, Jack Frost would fall into his revenge trap, and that little girl would be the bait.

**Author's Note: Well, how was that? I hope I made it a little more interesting than the other chapters! Please review! **


	5. The Beginning of the Worst

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 5! Hope you enjoy! Please review!**

Toothiana had made it back to the Tooth Palace safely last night, much to the happiness of her little fairies, who had all been worrying about her. Now, it was late in the afternoon of the next day and she was heading to Burgess to get Jack; North had requested that both of them come to the North Pole, and she had promised to bring him there. She just wished that she knew why, because he had seemed slightly annoyed, which was uncharacteristic of him unless there was something up.

Shortly, Jack's lake came into view, and Tooth saw him sitting on the ground with Kaylee hugging him and saying something that she can't hear. When she pulls away, Tooth can see tears tracks on the little girl's face, but yet she looks happy. Tooth sighs; she had to start spending some more time with kids, like she had said she would months ago when Pitch was still a threat; she really didn't get children's emotions.

"Jack!" Tooth calls out when she is close enough for him to here her. Both him and Kaylee turn their heads toward the Tooth Fairy as she flies up to them. Kaylee immediately rushes up to her and gives her a big hug, the excitement of knowing the Tooth Fairy still very fresh in the little girl's mind. Jack slowly gets up as well, shaking his head as if clearing it.

"Hey, Tooth, do you know anything about –" he starts, intending to ask her about the crystal and how it was possible for it to show him someone else's memory, but Tooth cuts him off.

"Sorry, Jack, you can ask me later! We've got to get to the North Pole; North has called a meeting and he needs us both there immediately! Kaylee can stay at the Tooth Palace; Baby Tooth and the other mini fairies will take good care of her and they won't tell anyone, Jack, although I really think the other Guardians should know and-" Tooth begins very quickly, but gets interrupted by Kaylee.

"Oohh, mini fairies! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" she says happily, tugging on Jack's hand.

Tooth laughs. "Yeah, Jack, let's go!"

"But, Tooth, I really need to talk to you!" Jack tries to tell her, but she has already started flying away, Kaylee right by her side. Jack sighs and goes after them, catching up in seconds. He knows that Tooth won't listen to him right now, much to his frustration, so he drops the topic, tucking the necklace inside his hoodie so that only a small part of the ice chain is visible, glistening slightly in the setting sun.

"So, you have no clue what this meeting is about? It's not about the light again, right? If they keep bringing that up, I feel like they'll catch on that we know something eventually," Jack says, sighing.

"Well, Jack, if we told them about her then it wouldn't be a problem trying to cover up what we know. I feel guilty hiding something this big from North, Bunny, and Sandy; they've never hesitated to tell us anything."

"I know, Tooth, and I'm sorry you feel guilty; I just think that the less immortals who know about her, the better, at least until I know more about where she came from and who she is exactly. Now, relating to that, I wanted to ask you about-"

"Jack, hold that thought, one of my fairies needs something!" Tooth says, once again cutting him off before he can tell her. She zooms off, speeding into the Tooth Palace, which Jack hadn't even noticed they had reached; Kaylee follows, so, sighing in frustration again, Jack zooms to catch up to the two girls. As soon as he gets into the palace, landing on the floor, Baby Tooth flies up to him and perches on his shoulder. Jack's frustrated mood disappears almost completely when he sees the little fairy.

"Hey, Baby Tooth!"

Baby Tooth squeaks and points to Kaylee, then makes a gesture to Jack, very clearly asking why Jack wanted to keep the sweet girl a secret from the world. He sighed; honestly, he wasn't completely sure himself. It was just that he felt as if there was something threatening that he could sense, but he wasn't sure what it was. He was just trying to keep her safe. He just wished he knew what he was keeping her safe from, and why he felt like she was being threatened. For a brief moment, Pitch Black crosses his mind, just like he did that day when he discovered Kaylee, but no . . . he wasn't back. Jack was just being paranoid, right?

"Alright, Jack, my fairies promised to take good care of Kaylee; let's go see what this meeting is all about," Tooth says, interrupting his thoughts. Baby Tooth flies off of Jack's shoulder, letting him leave with one last little squeak to say goodbye, and then the Frost Spirit and the Tooth Fairy leave the Tooth Palace, heading toward Santoff Clausen. Tooth had completely forgotten that Jack wanted to ask her something, and Jack, already still a little ticked at her for ignoring him twice now, stayed his stubborn self and kept quiet, deciding not to mention it until he was calm enough where he knew he wouldn't snap at her.

After about a half hour flying, they pair reaches the North Pole. Tooth had noticed Jack's odd silence and the slight scowl set into his face, but she couldn't figure out what was making him upset and, knowing Jack wasn't one to open up about his feelings, let the boy be. It wasn't until they had already flown through the open window into the Globe Room that she remembered that she had kept ignoring Jack's attempt to ask her something, and that she was most likely the cause for his anger. She couldn't mention it now, though, because North, Sandy, and Bunnymund were all staring at Jack and Tooth as they floated there, all looking a little miffed.

Tooth is the one to speak up. "Alright, North, what's the matter? I know something's wrong."

North, Sandy, and Bunny share a glance before North replies in his heavy Russian accent, "We know you two have been hiding something from us. Tooth, you haven't left your mini fairies alone for more than an hour except when Pitch was back, and all of a sudden, you leave for four hours yesterday and told no one where you went, although I suspect you were with Jack, which brings me to the fact that you, Jack, have stopped coming to the North Pole every night like you used to. Is this something to do with the blue globe light? What are you two hiding? Why have you been so secretive?"

Tooth and Jack share a glance now. Tooth's eyes plead Jack to let her tell what has been going on, and although it hurts him to know that she isn't happy and it's his fault, he shakes his head 'no' ever so slightly, hoping that only she notices. Unfortunately, the slight movement causes the necklace that he had tucked into his shirt to shift a little, glinting in the bright light of the Globe Room, and that does not go unnoticed by a certain Guardian.

"Jack, whatya got there, mate?" he asks, pointing to the ice chain that is showing more than it had been originally.

Jack looks down and sees it exposed and, his eyes widening slightly, he pushes it further into his hoodie and says, "Nothing." No one buys it, though, and the youngest Guardian suddenly finds that everyone's attention is directed at him. He lets his gaze drop to the floor, but he can still feel 4 sets of eyes watching him carefully.

"Come on, Frostbite, let us see it. We're just tryin' to figure out why you and Tooth 'ave been acting strangely. You know you can trust us," Bunny says gently, letting his softer side show to try and make Jack feel more comfortable and more willing to talk.

Jack sighs; he knew that the Guardians were relentless, and that if he didn't tell them now they'd just find out later, either finally getting it out of Tooth or by their selves. Fingering the ice chain nervously, he starts to pull it out of his hoodie, ready to tell them about the little girl, when at an extremely inopportune moment, Jack feels his vision getting fuzzy again. He knows what is coming, and manages to say, "Oh, not now," as he feels himself sinking to the floor and the Guardians looks of worry as Tooth zips behind him to catch him. He never feels her arms, though, because the little bit of memory comes first.

_The same little blonde girl, who Jack still knew was Kaylee, was outside on the front lawn of what he assumed was her house, playing happily in the snow. He somehow knew it was also the same day as the last memory. The same middle-aged woman from before, probably her mother, watched her running around, smiling widely. Laughing, Kaylee shapes a snowball in her gloved hands and chucks it softly at her mother, who laughs with her and throws one back. "Alright, time to come in, it's getting too cold out!" Kaylee pouts but starts to come back, stopping when someone calls to her from across the street: another little girl, probably her friend. She smiles and turns back around, ignoring her mother's protests to get back. _

The scene fades away and Jack opens his eyes to see the Guardians looking down at him, concerned.

"What was that about, snowflake?!" Bunny asks, seeing the boy's eyes open.

Ignoring the question, Jack sits up, feeling unsettled, like something important was about to happen in that particular memory that he needed to see. However, it left a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he wasn't sure why, but he was scared to see the rest, and his willingness to tell North, Sandy, and Bunny what was going on had left him.

"Uh, just felt a little light-headed," he lies, and Bunny narrows his eyes at him.

"Then why did you say, 'Oh, not now?' It's happened before?" he questions, and Sandy signals his agreement with a question mark above his head. Jack doesn't like all of this attention on himself and, not wanting it to last, flies up and out of the open window, escaping North's attempt to pin him down. He makes it to the Tooth Palace and gathers the sleeping Kaylee in his arms, muttering a quick goodbye and thank you to the mini fairies before heading back to Burgess and his lake to settle down for the night.

He knew the Guardians would probably come looking for him in the morning, but he didn't care about that right now. His thoughts were all wandering toward the little girl asleep in his arms, the crystal, and why Manny had decided to suddenly make his life very, very complicated and confusing. That was what his jumbled thoughts were of before he drifted off to sleep.

"What was that all about!?" North demands to Tooth, who was feeling just as uncomfortable as Jack had just moments ago; she doesn't answer, looking down at the ground.

"Tooth, come on, we need to know what is happening; we can help! We are a team!" he tries again.

Tooth sighs. "Look, North, I wish I could tell you but I've been sworn to secrecy by Jack; if you want information, you'll have to get it out of him!"

"Well, let's go find 'im!" Bunny chimes in; Sandy had left, since he needed to get back to spreading dreams to the children.

Sighing tiredly, North says, "Tomorrow, Bunny; we'll confront him tomorrow. Let's get some rest and let him settle down a little bit. Maybe he'll be willing to tell us tomorrow, since he looked about ready to before whatever happened to him happened."

"Alright, North, but first thing tomorrow we're gonna get him to talk," Bunny says, and then taps his foot, opening up one of his tunnels and hopping in, closing it behind him as he leaves.

* * *

Unknown to the Guardians, they would in fact find out tomorrow, just not in the way they expected; not in a good way, because tonight, Pitch Black had finally gathered his strength and his army of Fearlings, and was heading straight to Jack's lake.

Smiling sadistically at the sleeping Jack, Pitch grabs the sleeping girl out if his arms carefully, not wanting to wake him up. He didn't want to fight Jack, and he knew that would happen if he woke the boy. No, he just wanted the girl for now, as he knew that Jack would come quite willingly if she was at stake. Scribbling a message in nightmare sand in the snow, Pitch leaves, taking Kaylee with him.

"Soon I'll have you, Jack; soon," he says smugly, slinking back into the shadows and disappearing.

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. This whole story was a lot better in my head, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it . . . please review!**


	6. Preparing to Fight

**Author's Note: Hey, here is chapter 6! Now, enjoy because I know I left you on a cliffhanger! Haha, please review! By the way, the idea about Kaylee reminding Jack of his sister that pops up in this chapter is from Oluhasuu! The credit for that goes to her!**

While he is still sound asleep, Jack dreams, the memory he had been seeing before finishing up, the one he had been scared to finish.

"_Kaylee, really honey, get back here!" her mother yells, more frantic this time. The little blonde girl ignores her and continues on towards the road, intent on crossing it and going to see her friend. Realizing that her daughter is going to ignore her and not come back, the mother quickly descends the front steps and rushes after her daughter just as she gets into the middle of the street, still ignoring bother her mother and the mother of her friends telling her to get out of the street. The mother is just about to go into the street, just about to reach her daughter and pull her out of the road when a car comes speeding along, traveling way over the speed limit. _

_Kaylee freezes in fear when the car comes barreling towards her. Her mother screams, as does her friend's mother. Both women rush forward in an attempt to get to the little girl, to do something to make the car stop, but it is too late. The car strikes the little girl just last rays of sunlight disappear from the sky. Kaylee is dead on impact; she only felt a split-second of pain before her time came. For whatever reason, though, the Man in the Moon shown down on the girl's broken form, and there she was born anew as Kaylee Frost, despite the shocked glances of her mother, her friend's mother, and her little friend as her body suddenly disappeared right in front of them. He saw the pain on the girl's face when her no one could see her; he saw how she cried, until Manny told her to find Jack Frost, and to give him the second necklace; he told her how important it was, and the little girl obliged, waving goodbye to her heartbroken mother._

Jack was suddenly wide-awake, shocked at what he had just seen. That was how Kaylee had become a spirit!? Her life was cut short by a reckless driver!? That didn't seem fair to Jack, and at that moment, he felt even more protective of her. In fact, she reminded Jack a little bit of his younger sister, which just made him feel even closer to the newest little spirit. Wait, where was she? Realizing that the little girl was not on his lap like she had been last night, he panicked slightly.

"Kaylee!?" he calls out, floating up and intending to locate the little frost spirit. He is about to yell out again when he sees something glinting slightly in the sun in his peripheral vision in the snow: something black. Jack turns to it and looks down at it; it's black nightmare sand.

Jack gasps when he sees what it says: "I have her, Jack. If you want her, come and get her." There was no name signed at the end of it; there was no need for one. Jack knew exactly who the message was from: None other than Pitch Black. But, how!? How was he back already!? It had only been months since his defeat! Shouldn't it have taken years for him to reform?! It didn't matter, because for whatever reason, he was back, and he had Kaylee. Jack just felt scared at first; what would he do the girl? He was so powerful the last time . . . but then, the fear subsided almost completely, and Jack just felt angry, furious actually. "PITCH!" he screams loudly, releasing a burst of energy in his anger. He had never done such a thing before; it was so powerful that a huge amount of frost, ice, and snow shot off in every direction, coating the entire area of the lake with the mixture and simultaneously making every place in the world where he had been making it snow stop as he raced toward the hole in the ground not too far away where Jack knew Pitch's layer was.

* * *

In the North Pole, where the other Guardians were preparing the sleigh to head to Burgess to find Jack, the sudden stop of the heavy snowfall outside doesn't go unnoticed by Bunnymund.

"Guys, look," the Easter Bunny points out.

They all turn to look out of the window where Bunny is pointing and also notice that the snow has stopped.

"Why would Jack make it stop snowing?" Tooth asks. "He always likes it to snow here. North, what if something is wrong?" She says, concerned for the Guardian of Fun. It is then that she thinks of the biggest possible reason for something being wrong.

"Kaylee," she says under her breath, her eyes widening.

"What did you say, Tooth?" Bunny asks, his stronger hearing picking up her soft whisper.

"Um, I think it's time for me to tell you about why we've been kind of secretive," she says.

Sandy puts a question mark over his head.

"Yes, I agree with Sandy, Tooth. Why all of a sudden do you want to tell us? I thought Jack swore you to secrecy?" North chimes in.

"He did, but I think something might be wrong concerning this."

With that said, Tooth tells Sandy, North, and Bunny all that she knows about Kaylee. The three male Guardians all seem surprised.

"I never thought Manny would make such a young spirit," Bunny says in slight awe.

"Me neither, but he did, and I think her and Jack may need our help right now," Tooth says sternly. The others all nod. North quickly finishes preparing the sleigh, ushers the Guardians into it, grabs a magic snow globe, and they quickly enter it into Burgess, all of them concerned to the point where Bunny doesn't even complain about having to ride in the sleigh, which everyone knew he hated.

Seconds later, the four of them exit the portal and the sleigh lands at the edge of Jack's lake. The four older Guardians gasp at the sight before them: everything in the area is covered in a thick, shimmering layer of ice, snow, and frost. It was beautiful, but yet disheartening, because they knew that for Jack to have created it, something had highly upset or angered the Winter Spirit.

It's then that Tooth notices the black nightmare sand note written in the bright snow. She flits over to it, motioning for the others to come over as well and all of their hearts sink, because after seeing it, they know where Jack is, and they know that he must be getting himself into serious trouble.

"No, Jack . . ." Tooth says, highly worried about the youngest member of the Guardians.

Bunny puts a paw on her shoulder. "Come on, Tooth; sitting here moping won't help him, action will; Pitch will be bloody sorry he messed with Frostbite; he's gonna have to answer to us now, and this time, he won't be showing his face for centuries to come," he says, looking highly angry and annoyed, even though on a normal basis he tried to pretend he didn't care much for the boy.

For a second more, they stay where they are, just anticipating the battle to come. The thing that gets them into moving is the loud scream of pain coming from somewhere nearby. They all knew who the scream belonged too; it belonged to Jack. Angry and worried, the four of them head off as fast as they can in the direction of Pitch's lair, ready for a fight.

**Author's Note: Oohh, another cliffy! Haha, sorry! Please review!**


	7. Discoveries

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 7! I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far! Please leave reviews; I love reading them!**

Just as soon as the scream had started, it suddenly stopped, which only made the Guardians move faster towards Pitch's lair. Bunny got there first, hopping down without hesitation as if it were one of his tunnels. Tooth zoomed down right after him, then Sandy on a cloud of golden sand, and lastly North, the bigger man landing with less grace than Bunny when he hit the ground. However, he quickly steadied himself and stood up straight, scanning the area with his eyes along with the others, his swords ready to swing if needed.

Everything seemed unnaturally quiet now. There was no sound at first, until Bunnymund's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of a small, muffled sob coming from above them. He looks up, an in the cage where the mini-fairies were once held just a few months ago was a small girl, huddled into the back corner, crying. Bunny gets the attention of the others and points up, showing them his discovery. Tooth's eyes widen and she quickly floats up to the cage, looking through the bars. At hearing the noise of Tooth's buzzing wings, the child looks up, and everyone can now see her striking blue eyes and her white hair that are exactly the same as Jack's.

"Kaylee, sweetie, are you okay?" Tooth asks gently, reaching a hand through the cage bars to reach out to the girl. She floats over to Tooth, tears still leaking from her eyes.

"Tooth, you came! The – the mean m – man took Jack!" she wails. Tooth frowns at this, feeling sad, angry, and fearful all at the same time, yet also a determination building up.

"Don't worry, we'll get him back, and I'm sure Jack can handle himself for a little while! He is strong, and we've already defeated the mean man before; he can't be stronger than Jack," she assures the little girl, actually making herself believe it despite the fact that they had all just heard is pain-filled scream just minutes ago.

"Sandy, come up here!" Tooth says, and the Guardian of Dreams floats up on his golden cloud. "I need you to make a key out of sand to open the lock," she tells him. Sandy nods, not being able to speak, and quickly shapes some of his dream sand into a key, picking the lock. As soon as the cage door creaks open, Kaylee launches herself into the Tooth Fairy's arms, holding onto her tightly. Despite the bad situation, she still seems in awe of the Sandman, Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus. She doesn't say anything about it, but it is visible in her eyes.

With the little girl safe in her arms, Tooth floats back down to the ground, Sandy by her side. She lands next to a very grim looking Bunnymund and North; they looked angrier than when they had first learned about what happened.

"What? What's the matter?" Tooth asks, fretting again. The two remain quiet, and finally North holds up something he had been holding in his hands; Tooth hadn't noticed that he had anything until now, and she gasps when she sees what it is, tears threatening to spill from her Violet eyes: It's Jack's staff, broken in half. Bunny mumbles something angrily under his breath.

"What was that, Bunny?" a distraught looking North asks the Guardian of Hope.

He looks up at him, hate and anger at Pitch brewing in his eyes, and, motioning his head towards Kaylee says, "It's not suitable for the ears of a child."

Her voice trembling, Tooth asks the question that is on everyone's mind but no one had had the courage to ask: "Guys, what happens when his staff breaks? Doesn't he need it to use his powers? Will he be okay?"

Sighing, North answers dejectedly, "I don't know, Tooth; I don't know."

"Okay, well, as much as I want to just go after Jack right now, I don't think he'd appreciate it if we took his little sister into a battle, so I think I should take her back to the Tooth Palace first," Tooth responds.

Bunny raises his eyebrows at her. "Little sister? You said that Frostbite just found her, not that they were related. Didn't his sister live after he saved her?" he asks.

"Yeah, she did, and Kaylee's not actually related to him, but I see the way he adores her; he considers her a little sister, even if he hasn't actually said it. Now, enough chit-chat, this is serious; I'll be back soon, and then we'll find Pitch and we _will _get Jack back," Tooth says determinedly. Sandy, North, and Bunny nod as Tooth zooms quickly out of the hole, clutching Kaylee close to her and heading in the direction of the Tooth Palace. All they could do was wait for her to get back now and try not to think about the Guardian of Fun.

* * *

Jack awakens and finds himself on the floor in a dark room; there was pain in his chest, and he felt slightly dizzy. _What the heck happened? _He thinks. _It feels like that time Pitch broke my staff . . . oh yeah, that's what happened. He broke my staff again! _Jack groans, a mixture of pain and frustration. How had he let this happen again?! He had tried so hard to rescue Kaylee; he hadn't been stupid enough to just hand over his staff like last time, but yet the Nightmare King had still managed to get a hold of it and snap it like a thin twig and take him away from his "little sister."

Taking a deep breath, Jack slowly manages to get himself into a seated position, leaning himself against the wall for support. He knows that there is no way he will be able to stand as of right now, so he has no chance of escape; his head is swimming and his chest almost feels like it is on fire. Trying to ignore it, he scans the room with his eyes. There is nothing in it except for himself and a small vent blowing cold air in, probably so he wouldn't heat up, since he was meant to be cold. He couldn't help but wonder why Pitch would go to the trouble to do that when he had snapped his staff without any hesitation and laughed at the pain it caused him . . .

Jack sighed; he wasn't sure exactly what Pitch wanted from him, but he knew whatever it was, he wasn't going to like it. However, in his condition, he couldn't do much about it, so instead he closed his eyes, praying that the Guardians had gotten to Kaylee after Pitch had taken him, and drifted off to sleep, hoping his pain and discomfort would subside by the time he woke up and he would be able to figure a way out of this without the Guardians risking themselves for him.

**Author's Note: I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter! The next one should come tomorrow! Review please!**


	8. Pitch's Offer

**Author's Note: I am very grateful to the people who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! Thank you! Do you guys think I can get a few more reviews on this chapter? I know there are a bunch of you who just read after you followed and favorited, and I'd love to hear what you think of the story! Now, enjoy and review! **

Jack awakens for the second time that day, but this time, he knows that there is a reason; he is being watched. He gets slowly to his feet, ignoring the slight pain that is still present in his chest and the little bit of dizziness still in his head. He goes to grab his staff, but remembers that the reason he was here in the first place was that Pitch had managed to break it again.

"Well, I have to say, it's good to see you awake, Jack. Now, where's that little cocky smirk of yours? I've come to expect it, you know," Pitch taunts from somewhere in the shadows, out of sight of Jack for the time being.

"Shut up and show yourself, Pitch; or are you scared?" Jack taunts right back. Pitch walks calmly into view, smiling at the Guardian of Fun; he actually looks amused at Jack's attitude, which only makes Jack angrier with him.

"Trying to get on my bad side are you now? Not a good idea, Jack, and besides, your insults are pretty childish, boy. I suppose that makes sense though, since you were killed as a child. You were stupid then and you are stupid now; I guess I can't really expect you to change after over 300 years of being who you are," Pitch sneers.

"Well, I was smart enough to be able to help the Guardians defeat you," Jack says, smirking when some of Pitch's cockiness visibly fades away. However, it is quickly replaced by a fiery anger in his black eyes. Before Jack can blink, Pitch sends a stream of nightmare sand at him. The gritty substance slices right through the side of his blue hoodie and rubs against his skin, leaving a 5-inch gash that quickly began to bleed. Jack winces very slightly, using his right hand to apply pressure to it, but other than that does nothing to show Pitch weakness, even though it hurt.

"Shut up, you insolent brat, and listen up. I'm here to give you an offer. You get only one chance to answer, and I'll give you one day to consider your options, Jack. Now, I still haven't changed my mind about what I told you all of those months ago, Jack: I want you on my team."

Scowling, Jack opens his mouth to interrupt, but Pitch shoots another stream of nightmare sand at him that roots itself firmly over his mouth, making it impossible for him to talk. Jack glares daggers at him, but Pitch just smiles.

"You're going to stay quiet and let me finish. Now, as I was saying, I want you to fight with me, Jack, not against me. We would be great together. That is your first option. The other is to be severely punished for not joining me, and I'm sure you don't want that. I'm sure that the Guardians don't want to see you hurt, you don't want to see them hurt, and don't you think that little girl is too young to be a fearling? I mean, if not, I could arrange it," Pitch says, smiling sadistically at the anger and fear in Jack's eyes; it only made the Nightmare King more powerful.

"Like I said, you have one day, Jack; make the right choice. I'll be back in 24 hours to hear your decision." With that, Pitch faded back into the shadows, exiting the room by some way unknown to Jack. As soon as he was gone, the nightmare sand covering his mouth fell to the ground and dissolved. Jack sighed, sitting back down and leaning against the wall just as he had been before Pitch came in. What was he going to do?

* * *

"Where is Tooth!? Shouldn't she be back by now!? It's already been 30 minutes!" Bunny says, pacing back and forth.

"Bunny, relax. I know you want to go find Jack; we all do. You are forgetting that the Tooth Palace is far away though, and Tooth is carrying a passenger. She isn't used to carrying weight when she flies," North tries to reassure him. However, the big man is getting antsy as well, and silently hopes that Tooth will come back soon. Who knew what was happening to Jack while they just stood here?

Just when North was about to suggest that they get in the sleigh and make sure that the Tooth Fairy doesn't need any help, she comes shooting back down the hole.

"Tooth, what took ya so long?!" Bunny asks as soon as she is back on the ground.

"I'm sorry! Kaylee was crying because she was worried and scared; I had to calm her down before I just left her! I couldn't stand to see her that way, and besides, what kind of a Guardian would I be if I didn't help a scared child? I know that Jack would understand," she replies. "Now, before we go searching all willy-nilly for him, do we even know where to start looking? Where would Pitch take him?" she asks.

Sandy, Bunny, and North all shared a look that obviously meant that they hadn't really given any thought to this. Tooth rolls her eyes. "I'm gone for half an hour and you guys just stood here doing nothing?!" she asks. The male Guardians avoid eye contact with her.

"Okay, well let's think now, then! I can't stand leaving Jack with that monster for much longer." She shivers involuntarily.

"Well, there's no specific place I can think of . . . unless . . . you guys don't think his nightmare castle is standing again, do you?" (**A/N Didn't he have his own castle in the movie? Idk, pretend he did if not.) **Bunny asks, a hint of worry in his voice.

"No, it can't be . . . right?" North asks, looking at his fellow Guardians for confirmation. Sandy just shrugs his shoulders, indicating that he doesn't know, and Tooth just looks worried and concerned.

"I guess there's just one way to find out, right? Everybody to the sleigh, we're going to England," North says. Nodding, Tooth flies out of the hole once again, Bunny hops up and out, and North climbs up onto Sandy's dream cloud, having no other way to get out; all of them solemnly make their way back to Jack's lake and climb into the sleigh, taking flight again without Bunny complaining; as long as they were able to get Jack back, he was okay with whatever they had to do. Yeah, even he got concerned for their newest Guardian.

Knowing the ride to England would take a little while without another magic snow globe to get them there, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny all decided to get a little bit of rest to conserve their energy for the battle that was sure to come, leaving North to fly the sleigh in quiet, absorbed in his own thoughts.

**Author's Note: Hope this chapter was good! Please review, guys! I love to read them! **


	9. Jack's Choice

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 9! Haha and oh, in reply to the guest Lolxxx, Jack knows that Pitch doesn't have Kaylee! He's just worried that he will be able to get her again, since he managed it the first time so he knows it is possible! Plus, he can't protect her since he is trapped, so yeah! Anyways, enjoy this chapter and please review! **

Four long, quiet hours later, Tooth, Sandy, North, and Bunny finally make it to England, flying fairly low over a town when North was too lost in thought to realize it. "Mommy, look, it's Santa Claus!" a young child squeals from down below on the ground; that snaps North out of his thoughts and he commands the reindeer to bring the sleigh up above the clouds so that they won't cause any commotion down below.

"Is everyone awake? We will be arriving at castle soon, if it is really there"," North declares, looking back at Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny who were now all sitting up, still looking grim and solemn. They nod, and try to mentally prepare themselves for the fight that was sure to ensue in just a few minutes if Pitch's nightmare castle really was standing once again and that was where he was keeping their fellow Guardian. Little did they know that this fight would hold a surprise that none of them had prepared for. How could they know? Oblivious to what exactly lay ahead of them, they continue on, and soon the nightmare castle came into view, up in the clouds like the Tooth Palace. However, this palace was dark, foreboding, and ominous, resting on grey-black storm clouds instead of fluffy white ones. Taking a collective deep breath, all of the Guardians sit up straighter and head for cover behind other clouds, hoping that Pitch hasn't seen them yet, planning a surprise attack.

* * *

Jack was currently still sitting slumped against the wall in the same dark room, his eyes closed, thinking. His wound from Pitch had stopped bleeding a while ago, and although it still hurt, he tried to block it out, concentrating on the choice he had to make. He sighed in frustration; why did Pitch have to make his life a wreck? Hadn't he done enough the first time Jack had faced him? Besides, what kind of a choice was this!? He could either fight unwillingly beside Pitch against his friends, more like his family, or he could deny Pitch his wish and sit back while both he and his family suffered. Jack suddenly stiffened when he felt something in the room change; his eyes snap open, and he sees the shadows shifting positions unnaturally. He knows what this means, and sure enough, just seconds later Pitch Black forms from the mass of darkness, smiling at Jack evilly. "I'll need to hear your choice now, Jack."

Jack scowls, getting up and ignoring the pain in his side from the wound made by the nightmare sand and the last lingering effects of his staff being snapped. "What do you mean, you need to hear my choice?! It hasn't been 24 hours!"

To be honest, Jack wasn't sure exactly how much time had gone by; there way to tell while he was trapped here. He knew that it hadn't been an entire day yet, though.

"Oh trust me Jack, I know that. However, there's been a change of plans. You see, your fellow little Guardians are here already; I hadn't been expecting them yet, but it hardly matters now. So, what is your choice, Jack? Will you join me, or do you want more pain inflicted on you while they watch, and on them as well while you watch? Oh, and don't forget about that little girl. Well, make it snappy, Jack! What will it be?"

Jack already knew what his choice would be; it was really the only logical option for now, but it didn't make it any easier to speak out loud. Sighing, he says, "You win, Pitch; I'll join you." The part he left out was that he would only be joining this monster until he could figure a way out of it without having bad things happen to the Guardians and Kaylee; he didn't care about himself.

Pitch smiles at Jack, and Jack hates it, but he knew that he couldn't risk rebelling against the Nightmare King at the moment; he was injured, and his family was on the line. "I had a feeling that would be your choice, Jack. Here, change into this," he says, a hoodie materializing seemingly out of nowhere. He tosses it at Jack, who catches it and looks at it. It's exactly the same as his blue one, but black. Jack glares at him, not willing to put on the new piece of clothing; it would symbolize that he truly did belong to Pitch.

"Disobeying me so soon, Jack? Put it on _now_. Have you forgotten that I won't hesitate to –"

Jack cuts him off. "I know!" he snaps," and, angry as ever, slips off his familiar blue hoodie for the new black one.

"I think black suits you much better, Jack. Cold and dark, remember?" Pitch says once Jack has it on, referring to what he had told the Winter Spirit when they had faced each other at the Pole after Easter had been ruined. The white-haired boy just continues to glare in response, not in the mood for talking right now.

"Oh, giving me the silent treatment? That's a very childish thing to do, Jack. I thought you were at least somewhat mature." Pitch laughs as he sees that the boy is now fuming.

"Oh, relax boy. Here, I got you something else," he says, pulling something out from behind his back. It's a replica of Jack's staff, but in a . . . . well, in a Pitch Black color, just like the hoodie. Jack looks at it in disgust, and the Nightmare King notices.

"Being a bit ungrateful aren't we now, Jack? I spent my valuable time to make you a new conduit so that you can still use your powers properly, and you look upon it with distaste? You better learn respect very quickly, Jack, or there will be a price to pay. Now, try it out before those pesky Guardians break past my nightmares and get in here." Sighing, Jack takes the new staff from Pitch. It feels familiar in his grasp, since it is almost exactly the same as his old one, but yet he hates it, because he can sense it's dark aura. He doesn't let this show on his face, however, and instead does as he was commanded, trying the staff out.

Much to his surprise, frost actually shoots out of the thing on his command; he hadn't thought it would actually work, but it did; the same frost patterns that had taken form on his original staff were even now starting to grow on this one and his new hoodie. Pitch smiles when he sees this as well, and soon after, there is a large banging sound coming from somewhere nearby in a different room. Pitch's evil smile grows at this.

"I believe your friends have finally arrived, Jack! What do you say we go and greet them?" With that said, Pitch gathers the shadows and they form around himself and Jack, taking them to the corridor where the Guardians had managed to break into.

**Author's Note: I think this was my favorite chapter to write so far, and I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review!**


	10. We Promise

**Author's Note: To the guest Lolxxx: OMG, your review for the last chapter made me laugh! Haha, anyways, please review! I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter!**

Seconds later, the shadows release Jack and Pitch, but it felt much longer to Jack. It made him feel claustrophobic and beg for fresh air; one thing was for sure, he would do all that he could to prevent Pitch from doing that again. The shadows don't let go gently either, and Jack falls to his knees, breathing hard and slightly dizzy. Pitch notices this and laughs.

"Stay here until I say otherwise, Jack; I want you to make a big entrance for your friends. You wont say a word to them, by the way." With that said, Pitch walks calmly out from behind the wall that is shielding the two of them, facing the Guardians while Jack stands up, still hidden and feeling anxious about what is to come.

"Well well, Guardians; I have to say, I'm impressed. I thought it would take you far longer to defeat my nightmares, but you're here now, so I guess we'll move right along with things," Pitch says, smirking at the angry faces of each of the Guardians.

"Where's Jack, Pitch!?" Jack hears Bunny yell loudly, sounding concerned but furious at the same time.

"Oh, good question, Kangaroo," Pitch responds, trying out the nickname that Jack had used many times before. Growling, Bunny throws a boomerang at Pitch, who just dodges it and laughs.

"Well, I guess now is a good time to show you my surprise. Jack, some out here, won't you? It's time to get things started." Jack sighs, knowing that he has no choice but to come out if he doesn't want things to get any worse than they already were; so, he steps out from behind the wall, facing the immortals he had bonded with closely over the last few months. They gape at him, looking more shocked than anything, eying his black hoodie and staff with confusion.

"Jack, what's the meaning of this?" North asks, his voice pleading to know what is going on. Jack stays quiet, even though he desperately wants to tell them that he was sorry and that this was not permanent; he was only doing this for them, hoping Pitch would spare them and his new little sister. He looks down, avoiding their gazes, and the Guardians all become more worried; what was going on here?

"Oh, don't look so confused, Guardians. The answer is quite simple really: Jack here has finally come to his senses and decided to join me."

The Guardians all look shocked, and Jack lowers his head even more than he already has it. "Jack, that's not true, is it? He – He's lying, right?" Tooth asks, her voice cracking and laced with sadness.

"Yeah, Frostbite would never do such a thing, Pitch," Bunny concludes, but his eyes settle wearily on the Frost Spirit that was obviously looking anywhere but at them.

"Oh, quite the contrary, he _would_ do such a thing. Jack, attack them!" Pitch says, looking at the Guardians triumphantly as Jack reluctantly springs into action, shooting frost, ice, snow, and wind at the Big Four, who look absolutely horrified at him. Bunny glares at the young spirit who was betraying them after everything they hade done for him, and his about to attack full-force when his sensitive ears hear something the others don't.

"I'm so sorry, guys," Jack whispers under his breath, and he sounds heart-broken. Bunny puts his arms down, no longer carrying through with the boomerang he had been about to throw at the white-haired teen. Jack notices, and knows that Bunny must somehow know something, but he can't question him with Pitch watching his every move carefully, so instead he shoots a big blast of frost at him while his guard is down, covering him in a layer of the cold stuff and leaving him cursing and shivering slightly on the floor. He quickly gets up however and head towards Pitch, the others too busy to notice as they try to fend off Jack's relentless attacks while trying to get through to him at the same time, telling him to stop it and just talk to them, which of course wasn't working.

Pitch notice Bunny coming at him though, and turns to him with an amused expression on his face. "What do you think you'll accomplish by attacking me? Answers? I already told you, Jack has just finally come to his senses," Pitch sneers at the Easter Bunny.

"Yeah right, Pitch! What did ya do to the little bugger? Why is he helpin' you, cuz it's obvious he doesn't want to!" Bunny yells at him. The other Guardians hear, and stop trying to lash out at Jack in return to his attacks, and even Jack himself hesitates for a minute, just floating there and watching Pitch and Bunny with curiosity.

"Did I say to stop, Jack!? I don't think so! Attack, you insolent child!" Pitch screams at Jack. The young spirit flinches and looks at Pitch with anger burning in his blue eyes, but says nothing in response and goes back to shooting at his fellow Guardians. They, however, go easier on him after hearing Bunny's outburst, mostly defending and only returning fire if completely necessary to protect themselves from the boy.

"I did nothing to him, you furry pest! Now, I suggest you go help your friends before Jack does too much damage on them." Bunny turns and sees that the Guardians are having a hard time trying to hold Jack off when they are unwilling to fight him.

"Oh, for crying out loud," he mutters, hopping over to try and help. He positions himself behind Jack and before the Frost Spirit can realize that he is there, he pounces, knocking him out of the air and landing on top of his back on the floor. Keeping him pinned, he turns him onto his back so he can look into his eyes. Jack struggles, but only half-heartedly, proving Bunny's theory that he really doesn't want to be up against them.

"Why are ya doin' this, Frostbite? Whatever he told ya to make you help him, I'm sure it was lies. Now, knock it off and fight against him, not us!" Jack still doesn't speak, and he once again avoids Bunny's gaze, finally managing to push the Pooka off of him and shoot back into the air. He looks about ready to continue his assault on the Guardians when a shadow suddenly opens up behind him, and with a surprised yelp, the boy is pulled in, and the shadow disappears with Jack inside it.

"Oi, what'd you do to 'im, Pitch!?" Bunny yells. There is a chorus of "yeahs!" from Tooth and North, and an exclamation point above Sandy's head signaling that he was asking the same thing.

"Oh, relax, I just sent him back to his room. I'm surprised you still care so much when the little snow twerp betrayed you," Pitch responds, inspecting his black fingernails like the conversation is boring to him. "Well, I think this fight is over for now. I don't want Jack to get exhausted; I have big plans for him, and he's proven himself anyways. You Guardians may leave now," he continues, turning his back on them and beginning to walk away.

"Pitch, we're not finished here yet! We're not leaving without Jack!" Tooth yells feistily, starting to fly after Pitch. Bunny, Sandy, and North follow in her lead, but Pitch just snaps his fingers without giving another glance at them, Nightmares forming out of the shadows. There were too many, thousands to be exact, and the Guardians soon found themselves being pushed out of Pitch's castle and back out to the sleigh. The nightmares continues to follow them, and the Big Four were forced to flee the castle if they didn't want t be engulfed in the nightmares; they had no choice, because if they were destroyed, kids would lose hope and Pitch would easily rule over the world.

"Don't worry, Jack; we'll come back for ya, mate," Bunny whispers as the nightmare castle and the nightmares disappear in the distance. "We all promise," he says, and the others all nod their heads in agreement.

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed! Review please!**


	11. Realization

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 11! Thank you to the three people who actually review: shiqi98, Kyiomi, and the guest Lolxxx. You guys rock! I know that lots of people read this story from all of the favorites and follows, so can some of you guys maybe review, even if it's just once? It doesn't have to be long, either! Please? Haha enough of my begging, enjoy!**

Jack was sitting down in the same room he had found himself in after waking up for the first time, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He was unbelievably mad at Pitch, and also scared about what had happened to the other Guardians after he had literally been sucked away from the fight. He knew that Pitch wouldn't harm them greatly yet, because Pitch still needed him and Jack would refuse to help any longer if his family was destroyed.

In the corridor where he had just been pulled from, Jack can faintly here Pith saying, "This fight is over. You Guardians can leave now." He doesn't hear their response, meaning that he could probably hear Pitch because he was coming closer. Sure enough, seconds later, Pitch materializes in the room in front of Jack. Pitch smiles at him, but Jack keeps his face emotionless and doesn't speak, worried that he may say the wrong thing and put the Guardians and Kaylee in trouble.

"You did very well, Jack! I'm proud of you," the Nightmare King tells the Winter Spirit.

Jack just snorts and says, "Great, my enemy is proud of me."

"Ah, but you're forgetting, Jack: you and I are no longer enemies, we are partners."

"Yeah, because you have something against me! I would _never _help you otherwise, Pitch!" Jack explodes, surprising not only Pitch but himself, too. Oh no, had he just doomed himself? Did Pitch look angry? No, he looked amused. Jack sighed; apparently not much could phase the monster.

"Jack, keep your attitude at a minimum; it's amusing for now, but I will tire of it eventually, and when I do, I can tell you right now that I will not hesitate to punish you. If you think that measly little . . . scratch that my nightmare sand gave you earlier was bad, you're in for a very rude awakening, boy. Now, come with me; it's getting dark out, and you're going to help me spread some nightmares!"

Jack grimaces but says nothing in reply, reluctantly walking up to Pitch and letting the shadows wrap around both of them, taking them to who-knows-where. He just hoped that he could figure a way out of this soon, a way that wouldn't put the ones he cared about at risk.

* * *

"You're back, you're back!" Kaylee squeals when the Guardians all gather at the Tooth Palace, since they couldn't just go back to Santoff Clausen and leave the little girl here. She notices their sad, angry expressions though, and also that her "big brother" wasn't with them.

"Where's Jack?" she asks, her happiness and enthusiasm toning down a few notches.

Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and North all exchange glances, trying to decide what exactly to tell her. It's North who finally decided to tell her.

"Well, you see, he had to stay . . . um, to, um . . ." Evidently, North has absolutely no clue how to break the news to the child. Bunny doesn't have the guts either, after spending more time with Sophie and knowing how difficult it is to break something gently to a child without them getting upset still. Sandy couldn't talk, so that left Tooth to tell her.

"Thanks, guys," she mumbles sarcastically, shooting the males a glare. They all just shrug and start talking about ways to get Jack away from Pitch, and what the heck Pitch said to the boy to make him willingly join him.

Plucking the little girl out of the air and holding her in her arms, Tooth says, "Well, sweetie, you see, we weren't able to get him back yet, but he looked fine to me. I already told you, he's strong and he'll survive until we can get him back, okay?"

Her lip quivers a bit, but the little girl nods and, trying to sound brave, says, "Okay, but get him back soon though, Tooth. I love him, and I miss him. He's supposed to be teaching me stuff about my powers, and we never got to finish."

At hearing that, Tooth feels her tears coming to her eyes, but she stays strong, for Kaylee . . . for Jack's little sister.

The little girl doesn't say anything after that, and Tooth realizes that it's because she has fallen asleep in her arms, her head snuggling into her chest. Despite how upset she as at Pitch, and how worried she is for Jack, Tooth musters a smile, and quickly zooms to a spare room she has set up for any guests, tucking the little frost spirit into bed, then rejoins the others, helping in trying to figure out how to rescue Jack.

* * *

Jack flew around much England, barely able to see in the dark but doing it just the same. He had a bag of nightmare sand clutched tightly in his hand, and he was very reluctantly, spreading nightmares to the defenseless children. He absolutely hated it, but he knew he had to for now. Pitch was on the other side of England, but he had several nightmares watching Jack's every move, and they would report back to Pitch if he did anything wrong. On top of that, he couldn't destroy the things, as his new staff wouldn't allow him to, a feature Pitch had added in.

Jack sighed; where was Manny when you really needed him? He was very cryptic; he spoke only 5 words to Jack in his entire immortal life (the words being "Your name is Jack Frost), and then had randomly sent a new frost spirit to him with some weird crystal necklace . . . the necklace! Jack had completely forgotten about it! He felt around his neck, and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it still there, tucked underneath his new hoodie. If Manny had told Kaylee to give it to him, maybe it was good for more than just viewing memories? He was pondering this when a nightmare horse head-butted him in the back, and Jack realized he was just floating there, not doing anything. He turned and glared at the shadow-creature, but flew on to the next and last house after that, wincing as the small child cried out in his sleep from the nightmare that Jack had caused him to have.

Jack wasn't exactly sure how, but he knew that this little piece of jewelry might be the thing that got him out of doing Pitch's bidding, although he wasn't sure how yet. He figured that after Pitch came back from spreading his nightmares, though, he would take him back to the nightmare castle and isolate him in his room once again, so he would have to wait until then. For once, Jack wished the Boogieman would hurry up and come to get him.

**Author's Note: Hope this chappie was okay! Review, please! **


	12. Confiscated

**Author's Note: Yay, I got a few more reviews than normal on the last chapter! Thank you guys so much! **

**Lolxxx: haha, you're hilarious! ;)**

**Doglover11: Don't worry, the Guardians will come up with something! I promise ;) **

**Dylancarter: Aww, thanks!**

**Shiqi98: lol, thank you my friend!**

**Kyiomi: I know I thanked you already, but thanks again! **

**Now, enjoy guys!**

It was several minutes before Pitch finally came back for Jack, and the Nightmare King found the boy sitting on the edge of an open window, looking bored, anxious, and antsy, which confused him slightly; he figured that he would be upset or angry still, but instead of fear and anger coming from him, Pitch sensed . . . hope, which couldn't be good. Suspicious, he floated up to the Winter Spirit.

"What, are you still hopeful that the Guardians will come and rescue you? They won't be back; you betrayed them, after all. Why would they care about you anymore? In fact, they're probably glad to have you gone," Pitch tells him, trying and failing to crush whatever hope Jack had left; he needed the boy to fear him, to be crushed, or else his hold on him might not last for long.

"Oh come on, I know that's not true Pitch. Whether you like it or not, I won't be working for you for much longer, your highness," Jack says in a sarcastic tone, floating up to Pitch and making a mock bow. This infuriated Pitch; why did he have such confidence in those blasted Guardians!? If all of those nightmares hadn't just been spread to the children, there wouldn't be enough fear to keep his powers sustained any longer; Jack could be his downfall, again. He had to find out what was giving him confidence, and soon.

"What is your problem, boy!? You dare to mock me? You dare to have hope in my presence!? I suggest you shut your mouth, Jack! This is your last warning before I let you feel what pain really is!" Pitch roars, smacking Jack hard upside the head. It sent him back a few feet, crashing into the side of the nearest house. He groaned slightly, giving Pitch an angry glare, but he couldn't hide the pain and slight fear renewed in his eyes.

Pitch smiled slightly; that was much better, but he still had to find out what had happened while he was gone to make Jack happy. He couldn't let him know he was onto him, though, so he just said, "Come, boy; we're going home." He doesn't wait for Jack's answer, and instead summons the shadows that will transport them back to the nightmare palace.

* * *

"North, come quickly! Some of the lights just went out in England," Tooth yells, alarmed. They were all currently back at Santoff Clausen, bouncing ideas back and forth about how to get back into the nightmare palace, defeat Pitch, and save Jack. North bursts into the room (he had been in the workshop scolding a Yeti momentarily) and rushes over to the globe, looking where Tooth is pointing.

"It has to be Pitch . . . and Jack. This is more serious than I thought. We are going to have to act quickly."

"What if we get Jamie and his friends? They helped defeat Pitch last time! Could it work again?" Tooth questions.

"That's not a bad idea, Tooth, but it's winter break for the kiddies; I think their mums and dads would notice their absence if we took them to another part of the world for who-knows-how-long. We don't wanna get them in trouble, or put them in danger again for that matter. With Jack listening to Pitch, he could freeze the little ankle biters solid," Bunny says.

Tooth sighs. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Bunny. I'm clean out of ideas, guys, but Jack needs us! What are we gonna do?" Just then, Kaylee come floating into the room, staring sleepily at the Big Four.

"Well, Manny sent her to Jack, no? Maybe something about her holds the answers," North says, finally catching on.

* * *

Jack sighed; he was sitting against the wall in his "room" again, inspecting the necklace around his neck. He had hoped that another purpose for the thing would just reveal itself to him, but obviously, that wasn't how it worked, because he had been staring at it for about 10 minutes now and noting was happening.

"Manny, help me out here! If you're ever going to speak to me again, now would be an excellent time! What am I supposed to do here?" he says out loud, looking up to where the moon would be if there wasn't a ceiling. As per usual, though, there is only silence in response to Jack's plea to the Man in the Moon.

Jack sighs, putting his head in his hands . . . and yelping when the crystal of the necklace suddenly feels like it is burning against his icy skin.

"What the . . ." he starts, confused, but he realizes that it must be doing something, maybe trying to help him, so he holds onto it and waits as it seems to hum with energy. Suddenly, he can hear voices in his head. At first he thinks he might be starting to go crazy from being locked in here and from the stress of being forced to work for Pitch, but he soon realizes that he is actually hearing the other Guardians speaking to each other, and he can actually see them in his head as well.

"_Kaylee, sweetie, are you sure you can't tell us anything about where you came from, or what you have to do with Jack?" _Tooth is asking Kaylee. She is bending down to her height, looking her in the eyes. The little girl just shakes her head.

"Oh, Tooth, don't you know you can't ask a kid those questions? They don't understand," Jack mutters to himself. He is surprised when Tooth's head shoots up suddenly in the image in his mind, looking startled.

"_Who said that?" _ she asks. _"It sounded like . . ." _she begins, but trails off, shaking her head. Wait, could Tooth hear him? There was only one way to find out.

"Tooth, can you hear me?" he asks. Her eyes widen, and so do Kaylee's.

"_Jack_?" the two of them say at the same time.

Jack smiles. "Yeah!" he says excitedly.

"_Jack, where are you? How are you talking to us_?" she asks, confused.

"_Toothie, Kaylee, what are you talking about? Jack is not here," _North says, confused.

"Tooth, why can only you and Kaylee hear me . . ." he trails off when he realizes that Tooth's hands are still on Kaylee's shoulders. It must be because she is touching Kaylee, who has the identical necklace that Jack has.

"Tooth, tell them to touch Kaylee in some way." Tooth complies, and Bunny, Sandy, and North very confusedly put a hand (or paw) on Kaylee.

"Now can you all hear me?" he asks. The Guardian's eyes widen, and they nod their heads. "Do you see me, too?" Again, they nod.

"_Jack, how are you doing that?" _Bunny asks.

"It's the necklace; the Man in the Moon gave Kaylee one and he had her give me an identical one. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but I can apparently communicate through it. Listen, Pitch has to be close by, so this has to be quick. I never wanted to fight you; I'm only doing this to protect you. I promise, I'm going to find a way out of it though. You can't get involved, or Pitch will do awful things to you guys and Kaylee. He's stronger, and I know that if he gets his hands on you he'll be able to fulfill his threats. So, just stay out of it, okay?"

"_Jack, you know we can't just leave you there!" _Tooth protests.

Jack is about to respond when the shadows in the room start warping around, and the Guardians watch, horrified, as Pitch forms in the room.

"So Jack, this stupid little necklace was what was giving you all that stupid hope? Well, I'm sorry to cut your reunion with the Guardians short, Jack, but I'll be taking that now, and don't think this wont go unpunished! Let's see, maybe I should bring that little twerp Jamie and his sister here?"

"NO!" Jack yells.

"_Pitch, you leave the little ankle biters out of this!" _Bunny says.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you were there. How rude of me! Well, Jack can't play right now, so this call is over. Ta-ta!" he says, and yanks the necklace off of Jack's neck, abruptly stopping the magic that was allowing them to talk.

"Well, those kids can be a bit of a pain, actually, so you know what, I'll just settle for you, Jack. I still have use for you, so it wont be too bad unfortunately, but I bet you wont try a stupid stunt like that again. Sweet nightmares, Jack," he says, and shoots a stream of nightmare sand at him, putting him to sleep. He slumps to the floor, wincing at the fearsome images flashing through his dreams.

Pitch smiles. "Now, lets see what this little piece stupid jewelry can do."

**Author's Note: How was it? I'm not completely if the end of this chapter was as good as the rest of it. Please review! **


	13. Bittersweet Reunion

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I would have had this chappie up earlier but I started it late because I was roller-skating, and then I had to go to an emergency place to get my wrist checked out – I fell on it roller-skating. It's only sprained but it was a little hard at first to type with it or one-handed, plus I had to take a break for dinner, so bare with me! Lol enjoy guys :)**

"No!" Tooth yells as Pitch yanks the crystal off of Jack's neck. It's too late, though, and his image abruptly disappears, leaving the Guardians once again just looking at Kaylee.

"We have to go help him!" Tooth squeals while trying to comfort the little frost spirit as well, since she had broken into tears at seeing Jack treated like that by the "mean man."

"Tooth is right; I don't care if the little bugger said to stay away, it's time to teach Pitch a lesson," Bunny says, smacking his fist in his hand much like Sandy had on that night when Jamie woke up and saw them.

"Toothie, Bunny, that is very sweet and I agree, but we can't just go barging back into castle; we need plan of action this time," North inputs; Sandy nods in approval, and then his eyes seem to light up and he looks at Kaylee, an idea forming in his head. Excitedly, he shakes an elf to get everyone's attention, and then constructs a sand version of Kaylee and then the necklace over his head, smiling like he was a genius.

"What are you sayin', Sandy? You really want us to bring her into this?" Bunny asks, motioning his head towards the immortal child who was still weeping in Tooth's arms. Looking a bit more solemn now, Sandy nods, and conjures up another sand image above his head of Jack and Kaylee together, then the two crystals together. Now the Guardians are starting to get it.

"You think the crystals will do something or help them if Jack and Kaylee are together?" Tooth asks, making sure she's getting it right. Sandy nods again happily; they can actually understand him for once!

"Sandy makes a valid point; I think that maybe Manny knew Pitch was back and made a new spirit out of the first available person to help Jack out, and that one person happened to be a 5-year-old," North concludes.

"I agree with North and Sandy," Tooth says, looking hopeful again. "Let's do this! Everyone, to the sleigh!" North chuckles at the Tooth Fairy's use of one of his favorite sayings, and they all head to the sleigh.

* * *

"AHHHH!"

Jack woke up from his nightmares screaming at the top of his lungs. Slowly, he realized that everything he had seen wasn't real, but it didn't mean it had been any less frightening. His nightmares had been filled by gruesome images of horrible fates being forced upon those he cared about: the Guardians, Kaylee, Jamie, Sophie, the other children of Burgess, and even his old mortal family.

He shivered slightly, not from being cold obviously, but from the horrid memories of what had just played through his mind. He put his head in his hands and just lay there for a minute, breathing deeply and trying to calm his racing heart and stop his body from shaking. When he had managed to get himself under control, he sat up, letting his fear be pushed to the back of his mind, trying to forget it; it would only make his enemy stronger.

As much as he hated to admit it, hated putting them in danger, he told himself that he probably needed the Guardians to get him out of this; how ironic. He had joined Pitch in the first place to protect them, and now he needed them to help him out. However, that would be hard now that Pitch had taken away Jack's only way to communicate with them and the last thing he had said to them was to stay away and let him handle this.

Okay; he would have to do this by himself then. No problem, right? He could manage it. He had held his own with Pitch twice before (when he had been in his layer looking for his teeth and when he had faced him at the Pole after that). Taking a deep breath, Jack did something he hadn't done since being stuck here; he floated up and started looking for some kind of exit. Just like he thought, Pitch wasn't stupid; there was no visible way out, other than the air vent which was much too small for Jack to squeeze through. He couldn't manipulate the shadows to his will like Pitch could, so transporting out of here wouldn't work either. Just when he was about to lose hope, he saw something out of the corner of his eye: it was a nightmare horse, sitting stealthily in the corner watching him. Jack got an idea. He started towards it, and just as he had predicted, the thing started to fade into the shadows to escape the room after it knew Jack had seen it. Lunging forward, Jack leaped onto the thing just as it started to disappear, and the shadow enveloped him, taking him out of the room.

When the thing finally dropped him, Jack found himself in a corridor with black sand underneath him, which he realized were the crushed remains of the panicked nightmare horse. Jack smiled; now he didn't have to worry about the creature telling it's master that he had escaped his prison. Now all he had to do was find his way out of here. Picking a random direction, he headed off down another corridor, flying at a good speed but slow enough so that he could turn around if he found himself face-to-face with Pitch or hit a dead-end. He was feeling pretty lost when he heard a slight crashing sound, very quiet, and then someone saying "Shhh!"

If Jack wasn't mistaken, he swore that it was accented – and it sounded Russian. Speeding up a little, he headed in the direction of the noise. He knew he was close when he heard an Australian-accented voice say, "Hush up, I think someone's coming!" Jack smiled; that was definitely Bunny.

He sped up faster, and literally crashed into the Easter Bunny, who had his boomerangs out in paw, ready to attack when Jack caught him off guard. Bunny's eyes widened when he saw who the figure who had fallen on top of him was. "Frostbite?!" he said, surprised.

"Jack, you're okay!" Tooth squealed, excited; Jack shushed her.

"Pitch could be close by! We either have to get out of here fast or do something about him. I think that we should – Kaylee!?" he says, noticing the little girl for the first time.

"Jack!" she squeals, jumping into his arms. "You're okay! I missed you!"

"I missed you too, but why are you here?! Guys, who brought her!? Do you know how dangerous this is!?" he whisper-yells, angry and worried.

"Jack, we had no choice. It was the only way to help you when we thought you were in trouble, and we think she can help defeat Pitch!" Tooth says.

"No, she can't! Now we need to get her out of here and –" he is cut off by a booming, evil voice.

"Welcome back, Guardians. I was wondering when you would show up again."

Everyone whirls around, and standing just 15 feet away from them is the Boogieman.

**Author's Note: Please review! I love to read them! **


	14. Not Giving Up

**Author's Note: Wow, I got a few more reviews than normal for the last chapter! Thank you everyone! Enjoy chapter 14!**

At seeing Pitch, all of the Guardians get into defense mode. Jack holds his staff up protectively, gently shoving Kaylee behind him; North holds his swords at the ready; Bunny takes out a boomerang and an egg bomb; Tooth, not having a signature weapon, flies up to the front of the group next to Jack, glaring at the Nightmare King.

"You know, Jack, I thought you'd learned your lesson about acting up, but I guess I was wrong. How did you manage to escape, anyway?" Pitch asks, managing to sound angry, intimidating, and curious all at the same time.

"Like I'd tell you," Jack says.

"Oh, playing it that way are we now? Fine, fine, but it seems that you're forgetting our deal, Jack. You help me out and I don't harm your friends."

"Pitch, the deal is off; I'm done playing your stupid games after you threatening Jamie and Sophie; I should have never agreed to this in the first place!" Jack shouts, letting his anger at Pitch take control of him. Pitch takes one good look at the fuming white-haired spirit and laughs, catching the other Guardians by surprise.

"Let me ask you something, Jack: Do you remember your nightmares? Do you remember what you fear? I certainly do, and I promise you that I can make all of those horrible things happen," Pitch says with a sadistic smirk. At hearing this, Jack stiffens, and he lowers his staff about an inch; everyone notices his sudden drop in confidence, but it just makes them more determined to beat Pitch; they wouldn't let him get away with threatening the youngest Guardian like that.

"Jack, what's he talkin' about, mate?" Jack doesn't answer, just continues to stare at Pitch, seemingly blocking the Guardians out.

"Tell me Jack, do you really want to make the people you love suffer through that? The Guardians, those precious believers of yours; oh, and that precious little spirit girl you've taken a liking to? Would you rather continue to fight by my side and salvage them, or do you want to fight by their side and know that you were the one who caused their absolute demise? I mean, kids may stop believing in them, but at least they would still exist if you were on my side Jack." Pitch smiles again as his words seem to make the Winter Spirit consider his choices.

"Jack, don't listen to him! Whatever he showed you was fake; he'll never get rid of us," Tooth says, desperately trying to get through to him. When he still appears lost in thought, she protectively floats in front of him, pushing him gently back just as he had done to Kaylee minutes ago. While doing so, she managed to study his face for a brief second, and she saw the genuine fear in his eyes. What had Pitch shown him in his nightmares that made him scared like this?

"Pitch, you monster, what did you do to him!?" she demands, furious. She had never seen Jack like this, and it worried her.

"Nothing much, my dear Toothiana. I just showed him what how things would turn out if he didn't want to work with me," Pitch tells Tooth.

"That's it!" she yells, finally losing her temper at the Boogieman. "Attack!" she yells louder, and on the Tooth Fairy's command, the Guardians all storm at Pitch; all except for Jack, who is still trying to figure out what to do.

Bunny quickly realizes that the Guardian of Fun is not with them, and, cursing, he hops over to him, quickly whispering in his ear, "Get the crystal back from Pitch, mate; I bet he has it on him somewhere, and Sandy thinks that they are the key to beating him. You and Kaylee have to do it." With that said, he dashes back into action, throwing egg bombs at the fearlings that Pitch is sending out.

Jack looks and sees that Bunny is right; he can see the ice chain of the necklace poking out of Pitch's black robe. He hesitates for only another moment, and then makes his choice to help the Guardians, despite Pitch's warnings; he'll just have to pay careful attention to the fight to make sure that Pitch's promises of gruesome fates don't actual become of them. Pushing Kaylee into the small room that the Guardians had just come from, he snaps into action, flying up and around the fighting Guardians, trying to makes his way to the Boogieman without being seen by him. Unfortunately, luck isn't on his side.

"Disobeying me anyway, Jack? Fine, have it your way," Pitch sneers after seeing the white-haired spirit trying to stealthily sneak up next to him from the corner of his eye. After saying that, Jack barely manages to dodge as the Nightmare King sends a wave of nightmare sand at him; it misses him by an inch. He turns to return an attack when he realizes that the wave of nightmare sand had turned into a huge nightmare horse that was now coming after him, it's eyes gleaming menacingly. Jack lets out a little yelp and hope that the other don't hear it, not wanting to sound weak in front of them since he had already embarrassed himself by freezing up in fear.

He flies swiftly away from it, but the creature speeds up and follows wherever he goes; he starts to worry a little bit, since Pitch designed his new staff not to be able to destroy the nightmares. "Jack, stop fooling around and just kill it already!" North yells as he watches Jack zoom all over the room trying to avoid it while it gets closer to him.

"Don't you think I would if I could!?" Jack shouts back, and the other all look confused but don't argue, too concerned with fighting off their own fearlings while Pitch just watches, highly amused at the angry, slightly scared, and ticked-of Guardians.

Although Jack tried to out-fly the dark creature, it soon caught up. Snorting with anticipation, it head-butted Jack's back after one final burst of speed. Jack screamed; he didn't know why, but it _burned. _The force of the impact sent him crashing into the wall, and he slumped to the floor, his head throbbing and dizzy, and his back still burning. As much as he wanted to just give up right then, he knew that he couldn't abandon the Guardians to fight alone, and he could hear them calling out to him as his eyes were starting to fully close, darkness clouding over his vision. Their voices were laced with sadness and concern, but they couldn't do anything to help him; they were still fighting their own battles. Jack wanted to just give into the pressing darkness; he knew that the pain would go away if he slipped into unconsciousness. He knew that he couldn't, though. He had a task to do to protect the Guardians, to protect Kaylee; to protect Jamie and Sophie and the other kids of Burgess; to protect the rest of the world from the cruel, merciless, fearful rule of Pitch Black.

And so, ignoring the pain and his growing tiredness, he opened his eyes, managed to focus, and with a sudden, slight burst in strength, he lunged at Pitch, taking him off guard and snatching the possession that rightfully belonged to him off of the Boogieman's neck.

**Author's Note: Review please! I really like to read them! **


	15. Glow

**Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Lolxxx: hehe you are funny! Jack is my boyfriend though so I don't think he can be your husband ;) lol! Enjoy guys!**

As soon as Pitch realized that Jack was making a grab for the necklace, he tried to hold him back, but it did him no good; Jack already had it in his hand and was glaring down at him from up in the air by the ceiling. He was angry, and last time he was angry at the Boogieman, his powers became hard to beat. This time Pitch thought he had the advantage, though; he could see the pain and weariness in Jack's eyes that the nightmare horse had caused him and was surprised that the boy had been able to hang onto consciousness for so long.

"Just give up, Jack; you can't win! Why don't you just give in? You're hurt, and you wont last another minute against me," Pitch sneers, looking up at Jack who was still hovering up by the ceiling. Jack doesn't answer, just continues to glare with half-closed eyes; he was obviously struggling to stay awake.

"Jack, are you okay!?" Tooth yells up. He nods a little but it makes him dizzy and adds more pain to it when it is already throbbing, so he quickly stops, wincing a little and causing Tooth to worry more. He gives her what he hopes looks like a reassuring smile, and then puts on a determined face; he knew what he had to do. Bunny told him what Sandy's theory was, and now he had no choice but to try it if he wanted to get the Guardians and his "little sister" out of here.

Trying to ignore how bad he felt, he quickly made a dash for the small room where Kaylee was currently waiting in. Pitch half-heartedly shot some nightmare sand at him as he passed by, but he didn't try too hard. He really didn't think that Jack would last for much longer, and didn't consider him a problem at the moment; his main priority were the un-injured Guardians who were still fighting with zest, confident that Jack would do what was necessary to defeat the Boogieman again.

Since Pitch wasn't trying very hard to shoot at Jack, he was able to make it to the little room without attaining any more injuries than he already had, which was good because he could barely carry on in the condition he was in now. His blood was pounding in his ears, making it so he could barely hear, and his eyesight was blurred and unfocused from being flung against the wall, but he pushed on and managed to find Kaylee, huddle in a corner of the room whimpering in fear and worry.

When she saw Jack, her eyes lit up the tiniest bit and she flew to him, flinging herself into his arms. He groaned, and she backed up a little bit, tears in her pretty blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asks in a shaking voice.

He nods as much as he can, trying to convince her, but even the little 5-year-old doesn't buy it. Being brave, though, she holds back the tears that she wants to shed and says, "W – what do you need me to do?"

Jack is shocked that she knew that she needed to something; she was apparently a little more mature than Jack had originally thought for a little kid.

"Well, I'm going to need you to do two things," he rasps out. "I need you to be brave and try not to be scared, and I need you to help me do a very important job. Okay?" he asks, fighting off the dark spots still trying to take over his vision and send him into unconsciousness. He wouldn't let that happen, at least not yet; he still had a job to do.

Kaylee nods, somehow knowing in her childish mind that this was a serious situation and that something very important was required of her. Jack offers her a small smile and response and explains to her what they are going to do . . . .

* * *

"Oi, where did Snowflake disappear to!?" Bunnymund yells out over the noise of the battle after not seeing Jack for several minutes; he was worried about him, especially after the nightmare had hit him and sent him speeding into the hard wall.

"I don't know!" Tooth says worriedly while slicing through a nightmare with her foot. No matter how many the Big Four destroyed, Pitch just sent out more, barely using any of his energy while Tooth, Sandy, North, and Bunny were quickly tiring.

"We need miracle right now," North mutters under his breath as he slashes through 2 nightmares with his swords. As if Jack could here him, he chooses that moment to come out of the room where he had been hidden for the past few minutes, hand-in-hand with Kaylee. They both were wearing the crystals around their neck, and had determined looks on their faces, even if Jack's was still mixed with pain and weariness.

Pitch soon noticed the two and turned to face them from his perch on the back of one of his nightmares. "Awe, isn't this cute? Too bad I'm not going to let both of you live long enough to enjoy it long," Pitch says, venom in is voice.

"It's obvious that you'll never accept defeat, my dear Jack, so I'll have to eliminate you and your friends. You can try and beat me but I'll always come back in the end; you can never escape me, and you and the others can be easily disposed of."

"Yeah, but it won't happen meanie!" Kaylee yells at him, feeling safe in doing so while she is grasping Jack's hand. Pitch chuckles evilly, and the little girl's confidence drops a little bit; Jack gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, trying not to waste too much of the little energy he has left on talking.

"You ready?" he manages to whisper to her. She smiles up at him genuinely and nods. "Alright, let's do it," he says, cockiness and confidence shining in his eyes.

With that said, the two of them fly up, just feet away from Pitch who looks at the pair with amused interest. However, the snide look on his face quickly disappears and is actually replaced by one of slight panic when Jack and Kaylee just close their eyes to him, smiling, and start to _glow. _

**Author's Note: What'd ya think? Review please!**


	16. Wounded

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 16! Hope you enjoy, and please check out the one-shot song-fic I posted called "Desperate." Thanks! Oh, and Lolxxx: Jack is my boyfriend! Hehe Kyiomi knows this too! He visited her and me today! Lol enjoy!**

The Guardians all watched in silent awe as the glow surrounding the two frost spirits grew brighter. The nightmare horses shrank back from the light, but they couldn't escape into the shadows before it disintegrated them. Pitch tried to get closer to them to attack, but he shrank back just as his nightmares had; a few grains of nightmare sand started fell from his form.

"Stop it! You can't get rid of me!" Pitch screams. A small smirk crosses Jack's lips and, giving Kaylee's hand a reassuring squeeze, they strengthen the light. Pitch gives a pain-filled shriek, a sound that the Guardians are not accustomed to, and he slowly starts to disintegrate into shadows and sand that gets dragged away into the dark corners of the room. When there is little left of him but his mouth, he screams out, "I've told you once and I'll tell you again: You can't get rid of fear, Jack! I'll be back, and you will pay!"

As soon as the words leave his mouth, the last of his body is pulled into the shadows and disappears. The incredibly bright glow surrounding Jack and Kaylee slowly died down, ebbing away until they appeared normal again. The Guardians all smile at the pair of spirits as they smoothly float back down. Jack stumbles a little bit when his feet hit the floor, but no one really pays attention to it, or how he remains quiet while the Big Four heartily congratulate him and Kaylee on defeating the Nightmare King. Talk of a celebration is transpiring between them, and it is not noticed right away when Jack's eyelids slowly start to slide closed.

It's Bunny who finally realizes the abnormal quiet from Jack, and looks away from the others to see what is up.

"Oi, Frostbite, you okay?" he asks after seeing how fatigued he looked, and the pain that was still visible in his half-closed eyes. He doesn't answer but wobbles a little bit, and Bunny hops over to him; the others are still too busy chatting to notice.

Bunny can see that Jack's skin is a little more pale than usual, and he gets a little worried. Becoming serious now, he asks, "Jack? What's the matter?"

Jack tries to speak, but he can't seem to find his voice. Locking eyes with Bunny, he tries to communicate silently, "Help me." Then his eyes close fully and he pitches forward. Bunny takes a quick hop forward and catches him before he hits the hard floor.

"Um, mates, we got a problem!" Bunny says, worried and a little panicked. Tooth, North, Sandy, and Kaylee all turn to look at Bunnymund with confused aces, that is until they see Jack slumped forward in his arms.

"Jack!" Tooth yells, flitting over. She practically pushes Bunny out of the way so that she is supporting him instead, and gently sitting down on the ground and putting his head on her lap. North holds Kaylee back while she cries, trying to comfort her and not have her all over Jack while he is injured.

"Bunny, what happened!?" Tooth demands, gently stroking the side of Jack's pale face to see if she can get a response out of him, but he remains unconscious.

"I don't know! I thought he looked kinda sick, and when I asked him what was wrong he passed out!" Bunny says, a hint of worry and panic in his voice.

"Well, maybe he just tired, ya? From glowing magic?" North suggests, but he doesn't sound very convinced. Bunny shakes his head at him, Tooth doesn't answer at all, and Sandy just looks worried.

"Jack, can you hear me?" Tooth asks gently, one small tear falling down her cheek at seeing him so still and sick-looking; there is not even a groan from him. The only thing that somewhat reassured them was his ragged breathing, and even that worried them.

It is Sandy who finally remembers the nightmare horse incident. He flashes rapid symbols over his head, trying to explain it to the Guardians, but they are too busy fussing over Jack's still form or comforting Kaylee to notice him, and he had no elf to shake to get their attention this time. Glaring, he hovers around them, waving his arms like he had done that night when Jack had been chosen as a Guardian and he was trying to tell them that Manny was there; however, just like that night, it didn't work. No one paid attention to the Guardian of Dreams. Sandy silently sighed. It was times like this when he wished that he could talk.

He wasn't sure what else to do when Kaylee caught his eye. The little girl was only crying a little bit now, and was looking at him with some curiosity, wondering what he was doing. Smiling just the tiniest bit, he pointed to himself, then to the Guardian, hoping she would understand. Thankfully, she did, and tugged on North's sleeve, successfully getting the big man's attention. She pointed at Sandy, who sighed in relief and again started flashing the symbols over his head of Jack and the nightmare horse attack.

"Zat's what you think, Sandy? Zat makes sense, actually," North says sadly.

"What's he say, North?" Tooth asks, not taking her eyes off of Jack as she does so.

"Sandy think zat Pitch's nightmare caused this during fight. Didn't ze nightmare slam Jack in back and slam him into wall?" The realization dawns on them all, and Tooth turns Jack over onto his side so that she can lift up the back of the black hoodie, and she puts her hand over her mouth.

On his lower back, there is a large, red swollen burn-type mark with some nightmare sand clinging to it; it looked like it must really hurt.

"Wow, we gotta get that taken care of," Bunny says, carefully picking him up and cradling him in his arms. It was very uncharacteristic of him, but despite how he acted, bunny did have a soft spot for Jack; he would just never say it out loud. Tooth manages a small smile at seeing Bunny being so sensitive and careful with Jack, and then picks Kaylee up in her arms.

North ushers them all to the sleigh, and they climb in, beginning the four-hour flight back to Santoff Clausen.

**Author's Note: Oh no, poor Jack! Review guys!**


	17. A Little Bit of Bonding

**Author's Note: Thanks as always to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I love reviews! And to the guest Jen: OMG thank you! Lol! My bro said that review must have taken you a long time hehe. Oh, and Lolxxx: Hehe well, I have video but I'm not too sure you believe enough to see it! Haha check and mate! Now, I hope everyone enjoys! **

Three days had gone by since the huge fight with Pitch. There had been no sign of him since, so the Guardians knew that he was gone for now. Jack had remained unconscious ever since though. It was obvious to the Guardians that he was in discomfort, even while he slept. They had done everything in their power to help heal the wound on his back, but it was still slightly swelled up and still looked like it was incredibly painful.

Although Tooth was the one that worried and fussed over him the most, all of them were concerned for their young friend and Co-Guardian. They had done all they could do, though, and now just had to hope and wait.

In the afternoon of the fourth day since the incident, even the Guardian of Hope was starting to lose some of his faith. What if whatever the injury he had was more serious than they thought it was? All of the Guardians tried not to think these things, but all of them were starting to grow worried. Tooth had been buzzing around the Globe Room all morning giving mental orders to her fairies, trying to get her mind off of things. Sandy tried to sleep it off, and North was bossing his yetis around. Bunny, who had just been sitting still, decided to get up and hop around a little bit.

He found going into Jack's room very disheartening, always seeing him laying there looking fragile, so he was just going to pass it by when his sensitive ears picked up the slightest noise coming from beyond his door, like blankets shifting. Curious, Bunny opened the door ever so slightly. The first thing he saw was that the window was now opened, letting in a crisp, cold wind from outside. He was worried it might be an intruder at first until he saw Jack sitting up in the bed, the blankets off of him. He had his knees pulled up to his chest and he had his arms wrapped around them, still looking paler than normal and pretty tired, but he was awake.

"Jack?" Bunny says, a little surprised at the sudden improvement in the younger spirit's condition.

Jack looks startled at Bunny's voice, and he immediately lays back down and closes his eyes like he is trying to pretend he is still unconscious, even though it was clear that Bunny had seen him up. Happy, baffled, and slightly annoyed at his strange antics, Bunny hops into the room and confront Jack.

"Oi, none of that Frostbite! I saw you up, you can't fool me mate. What's wrong with ya? Do you know how much everyone's been fretting over ya!? Open your eyes and sit up, Snowflake." There is clear annoyance in Bunny's voice, but it was also a lot more gentle than normal. Jack took notice of this and hesitantly sat up, fighting off the little bit of dizziness he got from the action. Bunny knew that he still wasn't back to his complete strength, and decided not to be too hard on the Winter Sprite.

Bunny looks at Jack expectantly, but Jack averts his gaze from him, looking kind of nervous and embarrassed. Bunny wasn't sure why, but either way he could see that Jack wasn't about to talk on his own, so he started.

"Okay, first things first Frostbite; how are ya feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a nightmare horse and slammed into a wall," Jack answers with a hint of his old sarcasm back.

Bunny allows the slightest of smirks to cross his face, one so small that even Jack doesn't pick up on it, and then, growing serious again, he asks, "And that means . . . ?"

Jack sighs. "I have a headache and my back burns a little; nothing too bad."

"Alright, mate; now that that's out of the way, why'd ya try to fool me? We've been waiting for you to wake up for four days, Frostbite. Have you been faking that whole time?"

"No, I swear! I just got up about 20 minutes ago."

"And you didn't think it was a good idea to alert us in any way . . ." Bunny pushes. Jack sighs again.

"I wasn't really sure if you guys would want to talk to me." Bunny is about to laugh at the absurd idea; Tooth was ready to tackle him in a hug as soon as he got up, and he was worried that they wouldn't want to talk to him? However, he heard the sad tone in his voice, and how serious he was being, and all of the humor of it slid away.

"Why would you think that?" Bunny asks seriously.

"Because I helped Pitch and fought against you guys! You should hate me," Jack says, sounding dead serious. Bunny, for once, is actually shocked.

"Ah, ya bloody show pony, why would we hate you!? Pitch had something against you; we know that you didn't want to! Cheer up, wont ya!? You're still one of us, and everyone still cares about ya! Even – well, even me, Frostbite."

Now it's Jack's turn to look a little shocked. He stares at Bunny for a minute, genuine thanks and compassion in his eyes until the silence makes Bunny a bit uncomfortable and he says, "Well, are ya gonna say something Frostbite?"

Mischief once again sparkling in his ice blue eyes, Jack retorts with, "Awe, you do care!"

Bunny smirks a little bit, remembering the first time Jack had used that line on him and, patting Jack on the back, says, "I'm going to get the others."

He turns around just before walking out of the door though and turns around. "I will deny it if you tell anyone about this, Snowflake."

Jack smiles. "Wouldn't dream of it, Kangaroo."

**Author's Note: Hey, I know it's a shorter than normal! I'm sorry, but I hope everyone liked the JackxBunny bonding-friendship fluff! Hehe, so there will be 2 more chappies of this. The next one will be the rest of the Guardians seeing Jack again, and then the last one will be an epilogue of a few years later! Review!**


	18. Wonder, Happiness, and Love

**Important Author's Note:**** Oohh, I made this an important author's note! Hehe the reason is to tell all of my reader this: This chapter is kind of like the last chapter! There will be one more chapter after this, which will be an epilogue of a few years later! After that, this story is done. I will be working on another ROTG one though as well as a Kickin' It one because my friend shiqi98 really wants me too! Lol enjoy guys! Review!**

Bunny arrived back in the Globe Room just a few minutes later, still smirking a little and shaking his head at the strange experience he had just had with their youngest Guardian. The other three worried immortal beings in the room take one look at Bunny's cheerful mood and are immediately confused.

"Bunny, what happened?" Tooth asked, wanting to figure out what could possibly put the male spirit in a good mood at a time like this.

Chuckling, and then catching himself and stopping, he says, "Frostbite's awake." As soon as the words leave his mouth, Tooth's eyes light up with excitement and she squeals, taking off in the direction of Jack's room. Bunny wasn't surprised; they all knew that this would be Tooth's general reaction. Although North and Sandy wanted to see Jack as well, they knew how much Tooth adored him and decided to give her a moment. When Sandy couldn't wait any longer, he floated off down the hallway, smiling. North soon followed the plump golden man, a cheerful look showing in his eyes. Bunny, since he had already seen the Frost Spirit, brought up the rear of the group.

When Bunny got into the room, it was a disaster. Tooth was shooting rapid-fire questions at the boy, North was pretty much doing the same and also saying some things in Russian, and Sandy was making symbols above his head so fast that they were not decipherable; Jack just looked plain overwhelmed with all of the sudden attention.

"Oi, back off guys! Give Frostbite some space, and one question at a time!" Bunny says, raising his voice over North and Tooth's. The three Guardians crowding Jack suddenly looked ashamed of themselves and a little embarrassed, and they backed away a little bit, giving Jack some room to breathe. Jack shot Bunny a secret little look that clearly was saying "thank you," and Bunny nodded quickly back in return.

"Sorry, Jack," Tooth apologizes, blushing the slightest bit. "We've just been so worried about you! How do you feel?"

"Guys, really, it's not that bad. I'm fine, alright?" Jack says, flashing a smile to make Tooth believe him.

Tooth nodded, sold. Baby Tooth, whom no one had noticed before now, flew off of tooth's shoulder and preceded to check him over briefly with her eyes until she was satisfied that he wasn't in too much pain like he had said. Chirping with approval, she fluttered down and perched on Jack's shoulder, cuddling up to his neck. Jack chuckles at the little fairy's behavior, briefly stroking her small body in an affectionate gesture. North and Sandy were a bit more hesitant, as if trying to decide to believe him or not, but they eventually decided he wasn't lying and smiled, looking relieved.

Jack then notices that his "little sister" isn't with them. "Hey, where's Kaylee?" he asks, concerned. Had something happened to her while he was unconscious?! Sandy quickly notices the distress in Jack's voice and shakes his head, trying to signal that the little girl is okay; he doesn't seem to catch on however, so Bunny adds, "The little ankle biter's just taking a nap, mate; she's okay." The Guardians all give a small little smile when they saw the boy visibly relax; he really did love that little girl like a sister. After that question was answered, everyone fell into silence, not sure what to say next. The Guardians' immediate question on if he was okay was answered, and no one wanted to overwhelm Jack again.

Jack felt awkward in the sudden silence and, wanting to see his little sis again anyway, started to get up. He nearly had a heart attack when all four of the other Guardians sprang forward with lightning speed, pushing him back down. Eyes wide with surprise, and wincing at the tiny bit of pain that bounced through his head and back at the sudden movement, Jack yells, "What was that for?!"

"Sorry, Jack, but you are on bed rest! No getting up and no buts until you are completely healed!" Tooth said back.

"But –" Jack starts.

"What did I just say!?" Tooth demands in a motherly tone; Jack puts his hands up in surrender, and Tooth smiles. "Good! I'll go get Kaylee for you, then!" she squeals, and zooms from the room, bursting with energy. Jack actually finds it in himself to laugh at the Tooth Fairy's caring, exuberant personality, and soon the other male Guardians have joined in as well. Tooth soon comes back with the sleepy little Frost Spirit in her arms, and is confused by the others' laughter, which makes them laugh harder of course until they can't breather properly and Jack's head starts to throb, causing them to stop.

Kaylee, finally waking up fully, lifts her head from Tooth's shoulder and looks around, and notices Jack laying down in the bed. "Jack Jack Jack!" she says excitedly, wriggling out of Tooth's grasp and floating down onto the bed next to him. She wraps him in a huge hug, which Jack returns happily while Tooth "awwws!"

"Jack I thought you were dead . . . again! But you're not!" the little girl squeals.

"Wait, what's she mean 'again'?" Bunny questions.

"Long story," Jack says, and then turns his attention back his little sister.

"Don't worry, I'd never leave you," he says reassuringly, rubbing the girl's back in a loving way and letting a small smile cross over his lips. "After all, you are my sister." Kaylee looks excited at this, and nods, her eyes filled with wonder, happiness, and love, the things that Pitch could try but never succeed in removing from the world.

**Author's Note: Well, hoped you liked it! There will be one more epilogue chapter, and then that's it the story is done! Don't worry though I already know what ROTG one I'm doing next along with a Kickin' It one (jump for joy now shiqi98 lol) Review please!**


	19. Epilogue: Fear-Free

**Author's Note: This is the final chapter guys! It's an epilogue of a few years later. I hope that you enjoyed this story! Keep an eye out for my next ROTG one that will be out shortly along with a Kickin' It one! Review!**

**Epilogue**

"Nice shot!" Jack compliments Kaylee, who smiles proudly as he pats her on the shoulder. It has been 3 years since the defeat of Pitch; Jack's back injury had faded to a light red scar, there had been no signs of a comeback from Pitch, and Kaylee was excelling greatly in improving her powers. She had just managed to knock an icicle off a tree branch with a snowball from 50 feet away.

"You're improving really fast, Kaylee; I really don't think there's much else I can teach you! What do you say we go visit Jamie and Sophie?" he asks, smiling at the thought of visiting two of his favorite believers; he hadn't visited them in 2 weeks and they probably missed him and Kaylee.

"Yay yay yay!" Kaylee says, clapping her hands excitedly. She may have matured a lot in three years, but she was still eternally a five-year-old. Chuckling, Jack scoops her up in his arms and flies away from the lake that had been dubbed his home from the day he had woken up in the lake as Jack Frost. Just a minute later, the familiar house where the Bennett children lived came into view. Peering into the window of Jamie's bedroom, Jack saw the now 13-year-old boy sitting at his desk doing what looked like boring homework; he would soon fix that.

Putting a finger to his lips to motion for Kaylee to be quiet, Jack silently opened the window and slipped into the room. With his signature mischievous smile on his face, and Kaylee trying hard not to giggle, Jack shot a blast of magic out from his staff (which he had fixed for the second time three years ago, much to the astonishment of the other Guardians), causing cold snowflakes to fall over Jamie's unsuspecting form. Startled, the young teen fell backwards out of his desk chair, sprawling onto the floor looking up at the ceiling.

Not able to keep quiet anymore, Jack and his little sister both start laughing uncontrollably, and even Jamie, who had been the victim, couldn't help but join in. Sophie, who had very recently turned five, heard the commotion in her older brother's room and hesitantly opened the door. A smile appeared on the young blonde girl's face as she saw Jack and Kaylee there, as well as her brother on the floor laughing so hard that his face was actually starting to turn red.

After a few moments of staring at the three in amusement, Jack finally notices her and gives the Bennett girl a huge smile. "Hey, Soph, don't be shy! Did ya miss me?" Jack says, turning his full attention to her. Sophie nods and comes running into the room, hugging Jack's legs tightly. Jack chuckles at her actions and bends down, letting Kaylee out of his arms so that he could properly hug Sophie back. When he was done, he found Jamie finally standing, now holding Kaylee in his arms even though frost was starting to gather on his clothing from doing so.

Jack went over and gave a somewhat awkward hug to the young man since he had a little girl in his arms, making it harder. The Bennett kids were really getting big, and it amazed Jack how they were starting to change since, as he was eternally stuck as a teenager, he no longer experienced growing up. However, he was happy that the pair of siblings was growing up so happy and carefree, not having to worry about another dark age with himself, his little sister, and the other Guardians there to look out for them and the rest of the children of the world.

Maybe eventually Pitch would come back, spreading new fear to the world once again; after all, as had already been said, you really can't get rid of fear. But you could never completely get rid of wonder, hope, dreams, childhood memories, or fun either, and as long as the Guardians were there, those five things would be protected for eternity.

So, with that thought in mind, Jack plastered another sparkling smile on his face and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon with Jamie, Sophie, and Kaylee fear-free.

End of Story

**Author's Note: That was the last chapter guys! I hope that everyone enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review, and check out the next ROTG story I am posting either tonight or tomorrow! As well as a Kickin' It one if you are a Kickin' It fan! Thanks for reading!**


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